Wheat and the Mitch Menace

[Taeio]

So I started this story in the Discord server as a series of jests to Wheat, and it's become something that I felt needed some other place to tell, a place without some of the constraints of a Discord channel. It takes place in an alternate TiTS universe where the only difference is an army of mini-Mitches turning everything purple. The story takes place over short episodes, but i'm conglomerating them into larger episodes until I catch up to where the story is currently at. After that, the episodes will become short again.

Also, about species and such. You are free to imagine any character in this series of episodes as the species you see them as. While it is assumed that everyone is human, that doesn't mean they are in your head. My focus isn't on that in this story.

I have little else to say, so let's get to it.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 1

Taeio is the CEO of the Tae Adon corporation. He became aware of the Mitch menace years ago, and restructured his company to research this threat to the galaxy.

The Mitch is a small, many-tailed purple beast. When it bites something, that something becomes purple in color. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, as there are no known health issues that arise from being turned purple. No, the problem comes when an army of millions of Mitches arrive on a planet and turn everything purple. People tend to lose their resolve when all they see is purple. Variety is the spice of life, as it is said.

At some point, the Tae Adon corp. acquired a Mitch and began studying it. What they would discover was broadcast on the news:

"We have an update for you tonight on the progress the Tae Adon corp. has made in fighting what is being dubbed 'The Mitch Menace'. CEO Taeio has announced development of an anti-purple weapon he feels will render the Mitches inert."

"An update for you from the Tae Adon corp. The anti-purple weapon is finished, but Taeio, the CEO, has a warning about it's destructive capability, stating that it has the potential to remove the color purple from the entire galaxy. 'Obviously, we aren't going to use this unless we have no choice. We are currently working on a way to make this new technology more portable, which also means less destructive.'"

"Tonight's news update from the Tae Adon corp. is not good news, I'm afraid. CEO Taeio just announced today that the anti-purple weapon may also be anti-red and anti-blue."

"Good news tonight from the Tae Adon corp. The anti-purple weapon has been made portable, and mass production of these hand-held guns has begun."

Taeio wouldn't have much time to outfit the military as he just got word that the Mitch army was in system.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 2

Taeio was able to mostly outfit the planet's military with anti-purple weapons before the Mitch army arrived. Planetary alarms went off, the military was mobilized, and the battle ensued.

However, it was a futile effort. Many Mitches were anti-purpled, and the other Mitches re-purpled them. This was a discovery: The Mitch Menace is a regenerating army.

Armed now with this new information, Taeio had no choice but to flee the planet. He quickly searched for a destination, then set course. Along the way, he spotted something in his ship. It was a Mitch, and it was determined to turn Taeio purple. It lunged, Taeio dodged. Taeio pulled out his anti-purple weapon and fired. The Mitch was rendered off-white and inert.

Taeio, ever the thinking person, realized he was just given an incredible gift for his new start several star systems away. He had an anti-purple weapon, and now a Mitch. Research to bring the planet he chose up to the level where they could put up a fight against the Mitches would be heavily accelerated.

All that was left was the journey. After several hours, he arrived at his destination. The first thing he needed to do here was to convince the leadership that they were in danger. The second thing he needed to do was form a coalition of researchers under the Tae Adon corp. to bring the planet up to speed. Taeio's instructions to them were to analyze the anti-purple weapon and the inert Mitch, with an emphasis on studying the purplization properties of the Mitch and how to counter it. This was something Taeio didn't consider before, but would be crucial to fighting the Mitches.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 3

Research had begun on the things Taeio brought to the researchers. It was a couple of months until mass production of anti-purple guns could commence. With these, though, improvements were made. They no longer erased red and blue as well as purple. It was different with the Mitch.

There was only so much the researchers could do with an inert Mitch. A petition was made to the board to re-color the Mitch so that their task could be completed. The petition succeeded, and the Mitch was made purple again. But the strangest thing happened: the Mitch began to call out. The researchers, baffled, called Taeio in an attempt to define this strange behavior, in the hope that Taeio knew something.

It was hard to tell what the Mitch was screaming, what with being encased in a secured glass case. But as Taeio was listening, he could swear the Mitch was yelling "Wheat!" This had to be important, but what did grain have to do with anything? Taeio instructed the researchers to continue in their experiments, emphasizing the need for an anti-purplization breakthrough. "Leave what the Mitch is proclaiming to me," he said.

Days of searching the extranet yielded nothing. Countless articles involving wheat as a grain and how to cultivate it. Like anything, Taeio noted, no one can agree on anything, it seems. Eventually, he got an idea. What if...?

Taeio then searched for "Who is Wheat, the god?" The usual articles showed up, but there was one that caught his eye: "Wheat, the author god". He clicked on it.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 4

Taeio skimmed the article for the important points. Wheat is an author from the planet Terra. Terra is known as a center of technological innovation. One of the technologies developed was a device that could turn the written word into reality. Wheat got his hands on the device, and the first thing he wrote to input into it was "Wheat is a god". Power flowed into him at that moment, and he was impressed.

Wheat then took the device to his fellow author friends, and they all did the same thing. Authors like Fenoxo, Adjatha, Materia, Magenta Needle, Sose, Slab Bulkhead, Sil, among others, all become gods.

Wheat, however, wasn't satisfied. He had an unhealthy fascination, and wanted to turn the universe purple. So he used the writing machine to create an army of beasts that would go through the universe and turn everything purple. Those beasts would become known as Mitches.

Taeio had read enough. The captured Mitch was calling to it's god to rescue it, and help would eventually come. But there was still time; the Mitch army was still far away. Hopefully there was enough time to develop something that could counteract the Mitch's ability to purplize things.

Time passed, research continued. Eventually a breakthrough occurred. The researchers finally cracked the code on the Mitch's ability to purple things, and from there it was only a matter of time before a counteragent would be developed.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 5

The development of the device was completed. The prototype was sent to the manufacturing team. It was then that Taeio got word that the Mitches had arrived in the star system.

The anti-purplization device was constructed as a node that emitted a field that stopped all purplization within it. Only 4 such devices were created before the Mitches arrived.

The planet's military, armed with the new and improved anti-purple guns and the 4 anti-purpliztion nodes, were deployed. When the Mitches got close, the order was given to turn the nodes on. The Mitches stopped in their tracks.

Taeio saw this and had to reevaluate everything he knew about the Mitches. "They're showing intelligence... They're planning something." Taeio called out to the defense forces, "Stay alert! Protect those nodes at all costs!"

Taeio was right in issuing this warning. When the Mitches advanced, they headed straight for the anti-purplization nodes. But this made no sense. What could they do against the nodes? Everyone found out quickly when the Mitch army overran the first node and disabled it. Taeio shouted over the comm, "Regroup! Protect the nodes!"

As the Mitch army dwindled, it became harder for them to overrun the nodes. Piles of inert Mitches lay on the battlefield, as it seemed their sole focus was to disable the nodes. And how did they disable them? They simply ate the programming that allowed them to work. Taeio discovered this from on-the-fly analysis of the first disabled node. It simply didn't respond to his attempts to connect to it. It was as if it was just an expensive paperweight.

So the Mitches could also eat code. If Taeio knew this, the Mitch invasion would be just a simple event. As it stood right now, the second node was overrun and rendered disabled. "Curse me for not knowing!" he exclaimed to himself.

"We're almost there! Protect the nodes! We can do this!" Taeio said to the troops. The battle waged on. Many Mitches were rendered inert, but it wasn't enough to save the third node. It was disabled eventually.

All the military then converged on the final node. Firing their guns furiously, the Mitches were eventually reduced to thousands from millions. Then to hundreds. Then to tens. In a final effort, a Mitch was able to reach the final node, but was shot and rendered inert. The battle was won.

Taeio entered the battlefield then, surveying the carnage that was rendered unto the Mitches. He lowered his head for a moment, then lifted it to the sky and shouted, "WHEAT! WHEAT, ANSWER ME!"

 

[Taeio]

Writer's note: At this point I fully prepared to bully Wheat into getting off his lazy butt and start writing a new character, or at least finish up Mitch. But I couldn't pull the trigger. It would have been too cruel. So what follows is part 1 of the ending that got a positive reaction out of Wheat.

Episode: Aftermath

Wheat's disembodied head appeared in the sky. As he surveyed the battlefield, the look of horror on his face became more apparent. "My Mitches! What have you done to them?!"

Taeio spoke, "Wheat! The tyranny of your plan to turn the universe purple is over!"

Wheat replied, "And what do you know of my plan? My Mitches already span the galaxy. It would be a simple matter to direct a larger army here, and..."

Taeio interrupted, "And they will fall just like this lot did. By the time they got here, we would be fully fortified against any number of Mitch armies you would send against us. Additionally, I am going to spread what we have developed to the far corners of the galaxy, so that no one will fear a Mitch ever again."

It was at that moment that other author gods' heads appeared in the sky. Addressing Wheat, one said, "Wheat, it's over. You tried, but life, it finds a way."

The look of defeat on Wheat's face was apparent. After a moment, he finally spoke up, addressing the other gods, "What would you have me do?"

The other gods were silent, but Taeio had an answer to that question. "I know you have a machine that turns the written word into reality. Write the Mitches into oblivion, and replace them with something more beneficial to life."

Wheat, pondering this for several moments, finally said, "I think I know what to do. The Mitch menace will end, and it's place, I will grace you with a Mitch capable of solving all your problems."

 

[Taeio]

Episode: Epilogue

33 years later, Taeio was suffering mental problems resulting from the conflict against the Mitch menace, so much so that his employees were beginning to notice. So they got together to discuss how to help the boss. One brought up a sionach therapist currently housed on Canadia Station above Vesperia, and that he helped them through a rather rough time.

The employees brought him up to Taeio. "We know you're struggling, boss. The pressures you put yourself under to develop this new secret tech, and what you went through back then... We just think you should see this person." And Taeio agreed.

Taeio looked up this therapist on Canadia, and was surprised by the name of the company, called "Mitch's Meditations". Surely this wasn't a coincidence. Taeio set up an appointment, then when it was time, he entered the establishment.

The lighting was reactive, starting off dim, then brightening with a slight blue hue as Taeio traversed the hall, and was that the sound of rain? As Taeio parted the purple curtain at the end of the hall, he was treated to the sight of a secretary's room meant for comfort. False windows on the wall showed a city in the middle of a rainstorm, and potted plants in the corners of the room were blooming with purple flowers.

Wait. Purple curtain, purple flowers? Taeio was becoming more suspicious of this by the second. But he was here, and he had an appointment. After checking in with the secretary, it was only a short moment before his name was called by the therapist. This colorful sionach had purple hair and tails, and the ends of the tails had blue tips. Taeio knew for sure at that point; this was definitely the Mitch promised by Wheat all those years ago.

Mitch asked, "So, what troubles you this day?" Taeio explained the difficulties he was having recently, and Mitch just nodded. After relating his problems, Mitch directed Taeio to the comfortable looking recliner. But before therapy could begin, Taeio had one burning question for Mitch, "I'm sorry, but have you ever heard of Wheat?"

Mitch replied, "What, the Terran grain?" to which Taeio was silent for a moment, then just said, "Never mind. I'm sure it will become clear as I relate my story to you."

Mitch then said, "Well, why don't we get to it then? And don't worry, I'm sure I can solve all your problems..."



Thus concludes the Taeio saga. Another one begins from this point.

 

[Animefan666]

Shouldn't this be in the Fan Fic section?

 

[Taeio]

Was unaware of such a section. You're right, it should be there. Perhaps a moderator can move it there?

 

[PanzerGuitar00]

This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life.

Keep going man this is great!

 

[Taeio]

I'm waiting for the thread to be moved before i continue.

 

[Taeio]

What follows is a more serious story, dubbed "The Kirk Saga". The intro will explain everything I would say now. So here we go...

The Kirk Saga, Episode 1

In the years after the Mitch wars, Taeio was responsible for developing technology that would reverse purplization and restore color to affected worlds.

In the beginning of the mission to recolor Mitch affected worlds, Taeio had to secure the warp gate technology from Akkadi. Upon succeeding at this, he had his research and development team discover a new way of putting the gates into star systems. It wouldn't do to create the gate at headquarters then launch it through space upon confirmation of an affected star system.

Fast forward to now, where teams of scout & engineering crews traveled across space for months, even years, to reach new star systems. If the system had purpled planets, a gate would be created there, then connected to all the other gates over time. The crews would then return to the gate manufacturing center for parts to create a new gate, then set out again. It was then that a capital ship with a recolor device would set out to the system and de-purple the planets.

Kirk Nansen was under the employ of the Tae Adon corporation. He was the captain of the Destiny, a capital ship outfitted with such a recolor device. In his time captaining the ship, he would become more restless and disgruntled. This is his story...

In the beginning of recoloring systems, corporation ships were reporting minor troubles with ships aligned with what they called the "Purple Cult". A personal transport ship with a minimal crew had no chance against a capital ship, yet they tried anyway.

The Destiny arrived at just such a system, guarded by the Purple Cult. Great, more crazies, Kirk thought. "Blow that ship out of my sight," he ordered.

One weapons' volley was all it took. The Destiny then proceeded to recolor the system. Kirk lamented on this, growing weary of the repetitive process. "Why do we do this?"

"Captain?"

"It's not like these worlds, mostly, will support life. And those worlds that do support life, it's not like they're greeting us with gratitude. It's like they lost something when they were purpled..."

Recoloring a system takes quite a bit of time. A ship had to travel to each affected planet in the system, a process that could take days. Hours would be spent travelling from planet to planet, and hours more travelling to the next planet. Space is a big place, after all.

Finally, with the system recolored, the Destiny headed back to the warp gate. Kirk sent a request for destination to HQ, and his next destination came back a couple minutes later. It was programmed into the gate, which sparked to life. The Destiny travelled through.

The ship arrived at yet another Mitch affected system. And, predictably, there was yet another Purple Cult ship in orbit around an affected planet. Easy, the captain thought. But then, a large blip appeared on the scanner. It was a Black Void dreadnought.

When it came into comms range, the message was simple: "Disarm and prepare to be boarded." Typical Black Void bullshit. They were no match for what the Destiny was capable of.

The battle ensued. Weapons fired from both sides hitting their marks. The dreadnought and Purple Cult ship couldn't stand against the Destiny. Both were rendered helpless against her.

However, a call came from below decks: "The recolor device has been damaged, captain. I'm afraid we can't repair it from here. We'll have to dock somewhere." So, a long trip back to a repair station, and possibly a long vacation. But the implications were clear: it would seem that the Purple Cult had struck a deal with the Black Void.

The nearest Tae Adon corp. sanctioned repair port was days away, even by warp gate. It turns out that several gates would need to be crossed to reach the port. Even if Akkadi gave the Tae Adon corp. access to the technology of warp gates, it would seem the bureaucracy behind linking the new gates to all the other gates in the galaxy was slow. So be it, Kirk thought.

The captain retired to his quarters. The questions were still on his mind. Why were they doing this? What purpose did it serve to re-colorize these worlds, especially if inhabited worlds didn't seem to appreciate it? And what deal did the Purple Cult strike with the Black Void? That last one was the pressing question. Kirk sent a quick message to HQ to inform them that the Black Void has taken interest in their operations.

With that, Kirk resigned himself to his quarters to binge on his favorite show, answering calls from the crew when they came up, and sleeping when he couldn't stay awake anymore.

What seemed like a lifetime later, the Destiny arrived at port. Repairs were scheduled, shore leave rotations were established. The captain, when this was all done, went straight to the bar.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 2

These backwater stations didn't have many amenities. They weren't like Tavros. About the only things you could do is get drunk and wait for repairs.

Kirk had every intention of doing just that while waiting for a report from the maintenance crew. It was a few hours before one of his crew came into the bar looking for him.

"There you are captain. I have the report of the damage here," the cadet said as she held out a codex. Kirk took it from her hands and examined it. It was all technical jargon, and he didn't care about the specifics, just the bottom line.

Finally, the assessment: It would take 3 days to repair the damage done to the recolor module. "Great... Thanks for the report cadet. Do what you can to speed the repairs along. That will be all."

With a salute, the cadet took the codex back and left the bar. Kirk returned to busying himself with his drink and his thoughts.

When he was done at the bar, Kirk returned to his quarters on the Destiny. In the morning, he had much to do. It was the usual stuff like maintenance reports, shore leave confirmations, crew assignments... Amongst it all was a report that repairs were proceeding smoothly; a good sign that the Destiny might be able to leave port soon.

Finally, with all his duties done, there was nothing left to do but pass the time. Kirk spent a couple hours watching his favorite show. Eventually the station bar would open, so he set off to head there. Along the way, Kirk heard someone shout his name. Looking around, he saw someone he hadn't seen in a long time. "Ah, Fioretta Tasslebaum. What brings you here? Isn't this a little too far out of the way for you?"

She responded, "Well, you know, sometimes a job takes you places you wouldn't expect to go. Say, wanna get a drink? We can catch up."

"I was just headed there. So, tell me, what is the captain of the Reliant doing these days?"

The bar was busy. Crew on shore leave from the Defiant and the Reliant were in attendance, enjoying themselves in the only establishment for entertainment on the station. Fortunately, there were two empty seats next to each other at the bar, so Kirk and Fior took the seats and flagged down the bartender for their drink orders.

It was easy to get drunk when you had someone to drink with. After some time telling stories, and then reminiscing, the conversation then led to drunken flirtations, then to Fior's ship. Clothes were torn off, rough drunken sex was had, and one shared shower later, they were cuddled together on the bed, quickly falling asleep in each other's company.

Kirk was awakened by a notification on his codex. Let me sleep, he thought, but the beeping wouldn't stop. So he got up and got dressed, and checked his codex. It was mid-morning, and the notification was from the maintenance crew. They wanted to see him. Fior was still asleep, so he wrote a short note and left it on the pillow.

The trek to the dock didn't take long. A short conversation with the maintenance crew told Kirk that the Destiny was repaired and ready to go.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 3

Captain Kirk was readying the crew of the Destiny to depart. He had to call the crew back from leave, establish launching orders, and wait for everyone to be accounted for. At last, there was a lull in his duties, so he decided to record a log file:

"Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Destiny. It's continuing mission: To find purplized planets. To recolor them... Cadet!"

"Yes sir?"

"Why did you want me to say this again?"

"Well, there's this old Earth show called Star Trek, and they would open each show in that way, and I thought..."

"That it would be a funny open to a log file?"

"Well, yeah, I guess."

Kirk, unimpressed, dismissed the cadet with a wave. It was then that he got a message on his codex from Fioretta.

It read, "Thank you for a fun night, Kirk. It'd been a while since I was able to let loose like that. It's just a shame I couldn't send you off. Safe voyages, captain."

After the crew was finally assembled and their tasks clear, the Destiny set off back to the star system they came from before this diversion.

After the return trip, the Destiny returned to the planet they were originally going to recolor. Curiously, the Purple Cult ship and the Black Void dreadnought were nowhere to be found. But fortunately, there didn't seem to be any activity in the area. An hour later, and the planet was recolored.

But that was only half the problem. It turns out that when you've discovered one purplized planet, other planets in the system were also purplized. The Destiny would stay in the system for several days, going from planet to planet and recoloring those worlds needing to be recolored.

This grated on Captain Kirk, but it was especially disconcerting when the planet was inhabited, and the populace didn't seem grateful that they were given color again. It happened time after time. However, there were no such planets in this system.

Kirk eventually retired to his quarters, but he had no interest in passing the time with shows. He just wanted to lose himself in his thoughts, maybe indulge in a drink or two.

"This work is so thankless," Kirk thought. "Why do we do this, when even the people don't think the gift of being recolored is worth celebrating over? It's almost as if the Mitches stole something more than just their color..." Thoughts like this were plaguing Kirk's mind of late, questioning Taeio's mission. "I should have signed up for the UGC. At least I'd be out by now with my own ship."

There were no more troubles in recoloring the affected planets in the system. When the task was done, Kirk directed the helmsman to contact the scouts to find out where to go next. The response came minutes later, and the Destiny headed to the next system.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 4

The warp gate eventually came into sight, and the coordinates were set. The gate flared to life, and the Destiny travelled through.

On the other side of the gate, the first task was to find a purplized planet. But of course, another Purple Cult ship was in orbit above it. What Kirk didn't know at the time, not until it was too late, was that there were also two Black Void Dread Lord capital ships hiding on the other side of the planet. The moment the distress call came from the Purple Cult ship, the pirate ships came out of hiding.

The hail came shortly after, "Captain Kirk of the Destiny, you are outmatched and outgunned. If you value your life and that of your crew, you will surrender now and prepare to be boarded."

Kirk had a choice to make. He turned to the bridge crew, saying, "Everyone, options." The bridge was silent. "What? Nothing?"

"Sir, what can we do? What they said is true. We stand no chance."

"What if we tried to escape through the gate?"

"We can't risk it! The weapons fire could damage the gate before we go through, and who knows what would happen to us if that were to happen."

Kirk slumped down in the captain's chair looking utterly defeated. It was quite apparent that there was no choice. After a moment, he pushed the ship-wide comms button.

"Crew of the Destiny, we are about to be boarded by the Black Void. Initiate Plan Omega. Wait for my instruction to proceed. That will be all." He then established communications with the hailing pirate ship and said, "We have no choice. We surrender."

One of the pirate ships approached the Destiny and then docked with her. The boarding process was seamless. Black Void pirates were soon traversing the halls. A commander eventually boarded, and proceeded to the bridge to address Kirk.

"Do not worry, captain. All you have to do is follow our instructions. When we are done boarding the ship, you will travel to the warp gate and wait for us to set the destination."

The entire Destiny crew was on edge. Plan Omega, they knew what that meant: Ship-wide combat. But when?

When the pirates were finished boarding, they outnumbered the crew almost 2:1. The Dread Lord ship then separated from the Destiny, and began making it's way to the gate. The pirate commander told Kirk to follow it.

The pirates programmed the gate's destination and their ship went through. The Destiny then travelled through, followed by the other Black Void ship.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 5

Kirk and his crew found themselves on the other side of the gate in the heart of Black Void territory. Still following the lead ship, it was just a matter of time before a grand station became clear on the viewer. The pirate commander said to Kirk, "That's where we're headed, captain. Let us handle the docking procedures. Your crew should just steer the helm."

The station was arguably bigger than Tavros. It had to be to handle multiple capital-class ships at once. Kirk wondered what amenities such a station had. Surely, the UGC weren't doing enough if the Void had a station such as this.

The Destiny docked with the station. The pirate commander then said to Kirk, "The station commander will want to see you. Come with me, I'm sure your questions will be answered. Probably not to your satisfaction, however, but that stands to reason."

The pair disembarked the ship and proceeded to head to the station commander's briefing room.

The elevator ride was long, which was not surprising for a station this large. After it stopped and the doors opened, Kirk was guided along corridors towards the briefing room. When he arrived, his escort said, "You are to wait in here for the commander. it shouldn't take long. I will be waiting outside to escort you back to your ship when you are done."

Kirk waited, organizing his thoughts, planning. And then the commander came in. "Ah, Captain Kirk. Sorry to have kept you waiting.

"As you probably suspected, we want your recolor device. We are already detaching it from your vessel to study. But that's not all we want. We are aware of your... displeasure with continuing on this mission of yours. I would like to extend our invitation to you and your crew to join us. But first, you must have some questions."

Kirk responded, "What do you intend with us?"

The commander said, "Nothing, for now, but we will need your services soon. That can wait until we've removed the recolor device. Once we are done, expect a mission from us soon afterwards. Also, it wouldn't be wise for you or your crew to wander our station. We've already made that clear to your crew, but we would appreciate it if you could tell them yourself."

Kirk then asked, "How do you know of me and how I feel?"

There was silence for a moment. Then the response came, "We have been aware of you for a while now. How we know is a secret you'll never know."

What did that mean? Kirk thought. After a moment, he finally spoke up, "Was there anything else? I have no more questions."

"Not for now, Captain. We'll let you know when we need you. You are free to go. Just don't try to shake off your escort."

Kirk got up and left the room. His escort asked, "Done? Hopefully she wasn't too hard on you." Kirk shook his head in the negative. "That's good. The commander must be having a good day. Alright, come this way. I'll take you back to your ship."

The pair headed back to the elevator to the dock, then back to the Destiny.

The recolor device was removed eventually, and from there it was a just a matter of time before an assignment was offered. The Black Void commander got a communication. Afterwards, he came up to Kirk and said, "There is a disturbance on a planet we control close to here. Captain, you are to go there and see if you can settle it in our name. We don't want to resort to violence, but if there's no choice... Well, that's why we're relying on you. We are to leave immediately."

Kirk gave the instructions to his crew, and the Destiny set off. He didn't know what the Black Void were expecting of him, but if he and his crew were to survive, Kirk would have to do his best.

When the Destiny arrived and Kirk disembarked, the tension between the inhabitants and the Black Void was palpable. Protesters in the streets held signs with messages against the kind of stuff the Void was known for. And it was Kirk's job to appease them.

Kirk was escorted to the capital building to meet with the leadership of the planet. After a few exchanges, it quickly became clear that the Black Void had pushed a little too far and the people were unhappy with their regulations. It took Kirk quite a bit of negotiating over several days to get the Black Void to rescind some of the regulations, but only if other concessions were made from leadership. All in all, the negotiations were successful, even if both sides were unhappy with certain things with the new agreement.

The announcement was made to the people the next day when everything was official. The protests stopped soon after. Kirk was nervous. Surely the Black Void wasn't so hospitable, right? If these negotiations were any indication, it would seem the UGC had misread how the Void handled planets under their jurisdiction. Or was what the UGC said about the Void true, and a selling point for potential recruits? Kirk wasn't a UGC captain, so it didn't really affect him, but it was a curiosity playing in his mind. In the end, it came down to one question: Who was lying to who?

This question would have to wait. With the tensions on the planet handled, the Destiny headed back to the Black Void station.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 6

Back at the station, it would be a short while before Kirk got his next mission. The pirate commander eventually approached him and said, "There is a part we need. We know who's shipping it and to where. We need you to intercept the ship so we can retrieve the part."

Kirk got the details from him, then ordered his crew to disembark the station. The Destiny headed off to the destination given to Kirk, and when they arrived, the waiting game began.

Eventually, a ship came into the system. "That's the ship, captain," said the pirate. Kirk was about to spring the trap, but then he realized something: This ship looked familiar.

He ordered the bridge crew to confirm his suspicions, and they were confirmed. This ship was the Reliant, Fioretta's ship.

Kirk wheeled on the pirate commander. "What is the meaning of this?"

The pirate merely smirked and said, "We do need a part on that ship, but we are also very aware of your relationship with the captain. Think of this as us killing two birds with one stone. If you have any reservations about this, captain, we are more than prepared to take over the Destiny and obtain the part ourselves."

Kirk, seemingly having no choice, moved into position from the hiding place and hailed the Reliant. "Reliant, you are hereby ordered to power down and prepare to be boarded."

A moment's silence passed before the response came. "Kirk?! What are you doing here? And why are you behaving like a pirate?"

"I repeat. Fior, power down and prepare to be boarded. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Wait, you're serious?"

"Deadly."

"Alright, powering down. But you better have..." The comms link was cut off by Kirk.

The Destiny approached, then finally docked with the Reliant. Several pirates were waiting at the airlock for it to cycle. When it was finally ready and the doors opened, the pirates poured through.

Kirk left the bridge and headed to his quarters. Once he was there, he summoned the ship AI, "Madaera, has Plan Omega been initiated?"

"Yes, captain. I am just waiting for your orders."

"Good. Madaera, Plan Omega instruction: Seal off these quarters from all communications and intrusions. Sound proof the room."

A moment passed before Madaera said, "Done." Kirk then said, "Now, send a secure message to Captain Fioretta on the Reliant that I would like to see her on the Destiny. I will wait for her at the airlock. Once you have done this, unseal these quarters."

Madaera chimed in, "Would you like this communication to be protected with Plan Omega protocols?" Kirk immediately responded, "Yes." Moments passed before Madaera finally said, "Done. Your quarters have been unsealed."

Kirk left his quarters and proceeded to the airlock. He waited several minutes before Fior eventually stepped through. Kirk immediately put up a finger to his mouth to signal silence from her, then motioned for Fior to follow him. They headed to Kirk's quarters, where after the door was shut, Kirk called for Madaera again.

"Madaera, Plan Omega instruction: Seal off these quarters from all communications and intrusions. Sound proof the room."

Madaera came back a moment later and said, "Done."

Kirk then burst into apologies before finally saying, "As you can see, Fior, my crew and I are compromised by the Black Void. They are testing me. Part of that test was to retrieve a part from your ship to see if I would actually go through with it. For the safety of all involved, I had to do this. I'm so sorry Fior.

"Now that you know, I have a request to make of you. Take what has happened here to the Tae Adon corporation with this message: I am compromised. I suspect the Black Void are changing my recolor module with the intent of turning it into a purplization device. If what I suspect is true, they intend on removing the spirit of peoples on worlds by turning them purple."

Fior replied, "How do you know they won't just blow my ship up? Can you assure me that I will actually be able to make it back to deliver this message?"

"Nothing is certain, Fior, but I have reason to believe they won't harm you or your ship. They just want the part and not the rest of your cargo."

A moment of silence passed, then Fior said, "Ok, Kirk. Hopefully you're right. I will try to get the message to Tae Adon, and hopefully I won't be docked too much pay for losing a part to these pirates.

"I have something else to tell you..."

"Oh?"

Fior took a moment to gather herself, then just said it, "I'm pregnant. I went to a clinic, and they ran some tests. It turns out that your DNA is on profile across the galaxy. It's your kid, Kirk."

Kirk, dumbfounded for a moment, then regathered his wits. "We can talk about this later Fior. Right now I got a ship to save. But thank you for telling me."

Kirk then said, "Now, do not discuss any of this, even with me, anywhere on this ship or yours for right now, after I give this command. Madaera, unseal this room."

After a moment, Madaera said, "Done." Kirk then escorted Fior back to the airlock, where the pirates had apparently found the part they were looking for and were bringing it aboard the Destiny. Fior stepped through after they were done blocking the way, returning to her ship. Kirk headed back to the bridge.

The pirate commander approached him, saying, "The part is secured and we are ready to return to the station. But something curious happened while this was going on. You somehow disappeared from Destiny's sensors... twice in fact. Care to explain that?"

Kirk merely smirked at him and said, "The captain's quarters can be secured at any time I wish if I don't want to be disturbed. In this case, I was just letting off some steam. You can understand this, right? After what you just put me through?"

The pirate commander, looking a little concerned, replied, "Very well. Just don't do that again. We are ready to disembark for the station now. Captain, if you would?"

Kirk directed the bridge crew to detach from the Reliant, and the to set course for the warp gate in the system. The pirate commander input the destination, the gate flared to life, and the Destiny went through.

 

[Taeio]

Episode 7

Back at the Black Void station, the part stolen from the Reliant was shipped off the Destiny. If what Kirk suspected was correct, this was the final piece the pirates needed to turn the recolor device into a purpling one. His suspicions weren't helped when he was told that his stay would last a few days. "Great," Kirk thought, "we're docked at a station with many amenities and no one on my crew, not even me, can partake in them. Well, there goes my liquor stash. Nothing to do but catch up on my shows," he spoke to himself as he was heading to his quarters.

Although Kirk didn't deplete his stash, he did catch up on all his favorite shows before the pirates were done. Maybe he could have watched some new shows, but he was feeling restless. So he decided to wander the halls. In his wanderings, he came upon a familiar section of the ship that was now guarded by a couple of pirates. Upon spotting Kirk, they said, "Sorry, no entry. Not even for the captain of the ship."

Finding this odd, Kirk asked, "May I know the reason?" The guards just shrugged and said, "We don't know. Perhaps our commander can brief you."

Kirk took to the nearest comms on the wall and paged the pirate commander. After a moment, the commander came on the screen. "Yes, captain? If this is going to be a question about how much longer we have to stay here..."

Kirk cut him off, saying, "No, this is a question about why you have your kind preventing me from travelling sections of my ship."

"Ah, that. I wouldn't worry about that captain. It's need-to-know, and you and your crew don't need to know."

Kirk slammed the off button on the comms, and the typical ship information screen to the crew came back up. If he and his crew couldn't come this way, maybe he could get something from his crew about the reason why.

The captain started talking with the crew. Among the speculations he heard were that the pirate commander's commandeered quarters was behind the guards, as well as some wild speculation about a contingency plan the pirates have in case the crew mutinies against them. Kirk didn't know what to believe.

He was also asked about Plan Omega when the pirates weren't around. Granted, the word Omega wasn't used in the questions, and those were waved off with a simple word, "Wait."

Rules and regulations didn't allow superior officers to flirt with those of lesser rank, and since he had the highest rank, Kirk had no recourse to pass the time except to return to his quarters and find new shows to watch. And the time would pass...

Finally, the commander told Kirk that he had a mission for him and to meet him on the bridge. When Kirk arrived, the commander approached immediately and said, "Captain, your recolor device has been safely reinstalled on the ship, but we need to test it. Do you remember the first mission we gave you? The diplomatic one? We need you to return there to test the device."

There were 2 thoughts in Kirk's mind at that point, one triggering all the alarms and red flags, "Uh oh. Here we go... They're gonna purplize that planet, and there's nothing I can do about it." The second was, "I wonder if that's what the pirates were guarding?"

 

[Taeio]

Episode 8

Kirk ordered the bridge crew to disembark the station and set course for the planet. It would take several hours to reach their destination, and all the while he was extremely uncomfortable. The whole point of the mission Kirk was given when he became captain of a Tae Adon ship was to contribute to the effort to recolor purplized worlds. Now he was afraid that he would be asked to violate that mission. That was grounds for immediate dismissal from the company.

When the Destiny arrived in orbit above the planet, the pirate commander addressed the bridge crew, "Bridge crew, you are dismissed. We will take it from here." With that announcement, pirates entered the bridge and escorted everyone out, including Kirk.

Kirk signaled to everyone to follow him as he led them to a pirate-free section of the ship with a comms terminal. He punched a few buttons on the terminal, and all were treated to the viewer on the bridge, and an audio feed of what was happening:

The voice of the pirate commander was the first heard, "... agreement with Kirk was only temporary. You will submit to our demands or face the consequences."

The next voice Kirk recognized as the prime minister of the planet, "What can you do to us that you haven't already done? The people will drive you out!"

The commander again, "We can deal with that. Behold your moon. Can you see it?"

"Yes..."

"Witness what we can do."

At that moment the viewer switched to the moon of the planet. Shortly after, the beam of the recolor device was seen being fired directly at it. As everyone watched, their eyes widened in horror as the moon went from a silver color to lavender, then to purple.

The commander spoke again, "This will happen to your planet if you do not submit. Shall I describe the horror? Everything will be turned purple. Your skin, your irises, your sclera, your teeth, your hair, your plants, your wildlife, your buildings... Everything, minister."

Kirk turned the feed off, he had seen enough. His suspicions were confirmed. Everyone watching, once they had recovered their voices, implored Kirk to execute Plan Omega now.

"No," Kirk said. "We are to wait for more favorable circumstances. But if what they say is true about the Black Void, we will get our chance soon. Just be patient. In the meantime, we will wait to be called back to the bridge."

Minutes later, the bridge crew was called back. The commander instructed Kirk to direct the Destiny to the warp gate, and the commander would set the destination. Kirk had the feeling several worlds might be purplized before his chance to purge his ship of the pirates would manifest itself.

... Somewhere, Wheat was smiling...

 

[Taeio]

Episode 9

The Black Void insurgents on the Destiny directed her to several star systems. At first, they were mainly within Void controlled territory. Then they branched out. In each occasion, the bridge crew was replaced with the pirate crew, only to be called back later. In each occasion, a celestial body was purpled, whether it was inhabited or not. Kirk told his crew that this would be their downfall, and he was right.

Shortly after the last warp gate travel, the Destiny came face to face with three Tae Adon capital ships and several more dreadnoughts. The hail came immediately:

"Captain Kirk of the Destiny, this is Admiral Mikah Dreamer on the Red Vanguard. You are hereby ordered to immediately stand down and be escorted to the nearest Tae Adon corporation station to face judgement for your actions."

Kirk looked around the bridge crew, then at the pirate commander; he was looking quite frightened. Kirk responded back, "Sorry, admiral, I can not comply." Kirk then shut off the communications.

The pirate commander wheeled on him, yelling, "Are you crazy? We'll all be killed!"

Captain Kirk just smirked at him and simply said, "Yes."

---

On the Red Vanguard, Admiral Mikah gave the order for the fleet to fire on the Destiny. A protest came from one of the cadets monitoring the sensors, "Sir, the Destiny doesn't even have their shields up!"

Mikah simply yelled, "FIRE!"

---

The opening salvo came hard, rendering the Destiny completely disabled. At some point, a support beam came crashing down on Kirk, and an explosion on the bridge killed the pirate commander. It was hard, but Kirk called to his ship AI, "Mad... aer... a... exe... cute... Plan... O... meg... a." Ship-wide, all the lights turned red...

---

"Admiral, the Destiny is disabled!"

The bridge crew let out a hail of praises. And then, "Admiral, there are signals of weapons fire aboard the Destiny!"

Mikah, contemplating this for a moment, then muttered under his breath, "Kirk, you sly devil... Dock with the Destiny immediately!" Then Mikah raised the ship-wide comms, "Plan Alpha! All capable crew are to report to the airlock armed and ready for combat! As soon as we dock with the Destiny, invade and kill all hostiles!"

---

Kirk was stuck under the beam, unaware of the progress that was purging the Destiny of all the Black Void pirates. He felt a shock throughout the ship at one point, and it was about 15 minutes later that a question was asked of him, "Captain Kirk, are you alright?" Kirk merely gave a weak thumbs up. "Don't worry, captain. We'll have you out of here in a moment. Hey, you! We need a loader bot to lift this beam!"

The passage of time was excruciating before Kirk was freed from the beam. He asked of his rescuers about the state of his crew and the pirates. One of his attendees responded, "We believe we have wiped out all the pirates. As for your crew, some are injured, some of those critically. Don't worry captain. We'll get all of you fixed up in no time."

On the way to the Red Vanguard, Kirk called on Madaera again. It was hard because he had severe injuries to his chest. "Madaera, who amongst the crew is still on the ship?" Madaera responded a moment later, "There are no crew still onboard, it's just you, captain."

Kirk then said, "Madaera, initiate self-destruct. Code Delta-Gamma-2-3-5."

The ship AI responded, "Self-destruct sequence initiated. What will be the time before self-destruct?"

Admiral Mikah came through Kirk's wrist comm at that moment and exclaimed, "Kirk! What are you doing? Surely we can salvage the Destiny!"

Kirk painfully responded, "No! There is something on this ship that should never fall into the hands of anyone, not even the Tae Adon corp., or One forbid, the Black Void again. It is better if it were just destroyed. Madaera, set the timer for self-destruct at 10 minutes. Code Epsilon-Theta-5-5-5."

Madaera responded, "Confirmed. Self-destruct in 10 minutes." Kirk then said, "Madaera, now that the self-destruct sequence is initiated, move your entire program to Tae Adon headquarters. Leave nothing behind." Madaera came back, "Understood, captain. Initiating transfer now."

"Let's get you out of here, captain," someone said. Kirk was carried through the corridors to the airlock. There was 8 minutes left when Kirk was finally carried through. The admiral, when notified, immediately broke off from the Destiny and headed for the gate. Their destination was Tavros station. The rest of the fleet followed behind.

 

[Taeio]

Episode: Aftermath, the Trial

The crew injured during the attack were stabilized by the Red Vanguard's medical team on the trip to Tavros. Further treatment would have to be done there, but the outlook of the injured was promising. Fortunately, the prognoses didn't include possibilities of permanent conditions or loss of limbs.

Upon arrival at Tavros, they were all transported to the medical station, where they were patched up to peak condition and released. With Kirk, this process took four hours; the first half of those were for treatment, and the last for observance in case there could have been a complication.

When Kirk was cleared, UGC officers escorted him to the UGC station where he was processed, given a trial date two days away, and released without bail; the judge concluded that he was no imminent threat. Afterwards, Kirk made a call to his attorney, then busied himself at Anon's Bar and Grill until the trial.

It went as he expected. The prosecuting attorney and his attorney presented their cases, and after the jury deliberated for several hours, a verdict was reached; Kirk was found not guilty on all counts.

After the trial, Kirk got a notification on his codex. It was Madaera. Opening it, it read, "Captain, you are hereby notified that your presence is requested at Tae Adon headquarters. Please be prompt and show up as soon as possible."

This was it, Kirk thought. They are going to hold their own tribunal over his actions, and they have more information about what happened than the prosecuting attorney.

Kirk scheduled a taxi service to take him to the headquarters. After all, it wasn't located on Tavros, but on the planet where Taeio made his last stand against the Mitches. After several hours, the passenger ship arrived, and Kirk made his way on board. An hour later, the captain signaled the ship that they were about to take off and for everyone to take their seats. Five minutes later, Kirk was on his way to what he was certain would be the end of his career with the Tae Adon corporation.

 

[Taeio]

Episode: Aftermath, the Tribunal

Kirk arrived and immediately headed to the headquarters building. He checked in with the secretary, who told him it will be a while before he could be seen. Taking a seat, Kirk waited... and waited...

Finally, the secretary said, "Captain Kirk Nansen? They will see you now. I'm sure you know where to go?" He just nodded in affirmation and proceeded to the tribunal chambers.

The guard at the door said, "Captain, we have been expecting you," and opened the door. Kirk stepped through and was directed by attendants in the chamber to his seat. Once seated, the tribunal began.

The lead mediator spoke first, "Captain Kirk Nansen, welcome. You were called here to explain your actions that led to the loss of one of our recolor modules. I, lead mediator Nathan Parsons, will mediate this tribunal. The other mediators seated in the chamber will ask you questions. We'll start with mediator William. You may proceed, mediator.

William cleared his throat. "Yes. Captain Kirk, could you explain the situation that led you to surrender to the Black Void?"

Kirk responded, "In one of the systems we travelled to for recolor operations, the Purple Cult was there, of course, but also a Black Void ship. I sent a message to these headquarters shortly after the event. After undergoing repairs, we returned to the system to finish the operation. After sending a message to the scouting team to look for the next affected system, we were given our next destination. There, another Purple Cult ship was in the area, but more than that, two Dread Lord ships as well. To prevent needless loss of life, I had no choice but to surrender."

William then asked, "Did you initiate Plan Omega before or after you officially surrendered?"

"Before."

"And when were you intending on executing the plan?"

"When the circumstances were more favorable, which wouldn't happen for several days."

William concluded, "I see. I have no more questions. I yield back."

The lead mediator then looked to the next mediator, "Jacob, you may proceed."

Jacob adjusted the microphone. "Captain Kirk, could you please explain Plan Omega?"

"Yes. Plan Omega is initiated upon eminent threat of being boarded with no hope of fighting the intruders at that time because of unfavorable circumstances. It is flexible in that if circumstances do not permit it's execution, the final order will not be given. It involves secret messages displayed on communications terminals indicating orders for the crew. Orders to sabotage the enemy and things like that will be transmitted on the terminals to frustrate and delay until such a time when the plan can be executed in full."

"And did you issue such orders?"

"Yes. At the end of the day, the pirates could be heard commenting that my crew had to be the most incompetent crew they've ever seen."

At that point, another mediator butted in, "What? The crew just acts incompetent?"

Lead mediator Nathan turned to the mediator, "Leon, you will get your turn. Jacob, continue."

Kirk spoke then, "If it please the tribunal, I'd like to answer the question." The lead mediator nodded. Kirk continued, "It isn't about just acting incompetent, mediator. When the crew gets the coded orders on the terminals, how they execute said orders is up to them. They can actively try to sabotage, frustrate, or delay. I trust my crew to discern what would be best for the situation. I believe my crew delayed the pirates plan by several days, preventing many planets from being purpled by the pirates before admiral Mikah's fleet stopped us."

Jacob then yielded back. Nathan then motioned for Leon to proceed.

"Captain Kirk, I have a couple of questions. First, why did you power up your weapons against admiral Mikah, refuse to fire, yet also keep your shields down?"

"Simple. You develop an unspoken understanding with your bridge crew after being with them for so long. The bond can be so developed that a simple look or gesture can convey an order. In this case, I wanted to provoke admiral Mikah to disable the Destiny, so I gave those unspoken orders to the bridge crew. Since the pirate commander was on the bridge at the time, I couldn't exactly speak the orders. One look told them to power up the weapons, another look told them to keep the shields down. This was all in an effort to be finally able to execute Plan Omega. As you know, I'm sure, the pirates outnumbered us on the ship by roughly 2:1. This was the perfect opportunity to equal the odds."

"You could have been destroyed! That was quite the gamble, Kirk."

"Mediator, do you know what it takes to destroy a capital ship? Even other capital class ships have trouble achieving such a feat."

"Moving on. It has become clear by reading the logs provided by Madaera, your ship's AI, that you don't believe in our mission. Care to explain yourself?"

Kirk sighed. It took him a moment before he could answer, "Recoloring worlds isn't my issue, mediator. No, it's the inhabitants of recolored worlds that don't seem to know how blessed they've become by being recolored. It's like the Mitches stole their spirit as well as their color. I believe the Black Void discovered this somehow, much like I did, and, while I can't explain how, they targeted me because they somehow learned of my disgruntled disposition."

It was then that Taeio walked into the chambers. He grabbed the microphone from the lead mediator and said, "Kirk, we have known about the loss of spirit of those purplized from the beginning. You can't expect those dispirited folks to suddenly jump for joy when the variety of life is suddenly given back to them. There's an adjustment period. It takes time to regain your spirit when you've lost it. Still, we do this because we know that they will eventually regain their spirit.

"With this, I am recommending Captain Kirk Nansen be honorably discharged. You know what that means, right Kirk?" Kirk nodded his head. "Good. Remember that this means you can rejoin us at any time in the future when you believe in our mission again. But... I understand you have an obligation now. Go see to that. And give her my regards."

With that, the tribunal was almost over. It was just a matter of closing procedures. Lead mediator Nathan spoke, "Well, I think we have our verdict. Is everyone in agreement that Captain Kirk Nansen should be honorably discharged from the company?" The mediators nodded in agreement.

"Kirk Nansen, you are hereby discharged from employment with the Tae Adon corporation. Your pension will remain intact, and you can file the papers to start receiving payments with the secretary in the lobby. Additionally, you are allowed one ship purchase on us totaling no more than..." Nathan looked at his notes, "500,000 credits. Farewell Kirk, may the One bless your travels. Tribunal dismissed."

As former captain Kirk left the chambers, Taeio was waiting for him. "One moment, Kirk. I understand you've grown fond of Madaera. So I have a parting gift for you. After we've sanitized Madaera, we will install her module on the ship you choose. It's not like we have any use for her anymore."

Kirk responded, "Thank you Taeio. She will be a nice companion to have when Fior is busy."

Taeio then said, "Safe travels, Kirk. And treat that baby right, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

Kirk filed the necessary paperwork with the lobby secretary to start his pension payments, then booked travel back to Tavros, and while he was waiting for the passenger ship to arrive, he sent a message to Fioretta. It read:

Dear Fior:

I am suddenly finding myself unemployed. I have a proposition for you. Get back to me when you can.

Love, Kirk

 

[Taeio]

Epilogue: A New Life

Kirk's new ship was escorting the Reliant to it's destination. The trek was boring, so he told Madaera to engage the auto-pilot, then went to the lounge and turned on the vid screen. He browsed the selection of shows tailored to his viewing habits... Oh, new episodes. Before he made the selection, he asked Madaera for the ETA to their destination. "Three hours, Kirk." She didn't call him captain anymore, not since the sanitization. Kirk selected the show and began watching.

When they were close to arriving, Fior hailed him. "Kirk, I know you got the routine down by now, but just to remind you, you are to stand guard in front of the Reliant until I make the delivery. We're almost there, so don't forget."

"Do I ever forget, Fior?"

"No..."

The two ships arrived at port. Fior busied herself with unloading the cargo. She was heavily pregnant and was due any day now. As if on cue, "Oof," and her water broke. Kirk immediately rushed to her side.

"Is it time?"

"I don't know, but I think so."

"Let's get you to the medical station."

---

Hours later, Fior was holding a baby boy. He was sleeping soundly. Fior turned to Kirk and asked, "What shall we name him?"

Kirk thought about it for a moment, then responded, "How about Riker?"

Fior just smiled and said, "I like it."

They both just remained in the silence for several moments before Kirk spoke again, "How do you want to handle this, Fior?"

"I just thought I'd take this little lad on my treks across the galaxy until it's time to enroll him in school, then find one..."

"And what do we do then?"

Fior contemplated this for a minute, then said, "I guess we live off your pension until our boy is all grown up."

"Hmm... I could live with that." And with that, Kirk signaled the nurse. It was time for Fior to rest. The nurse took the baby to the natal unit, Kirk kissed Fior on the forehead and whispered, "Get some rest, Fior. You've earned it."

With that, Kirk returned to guarding the Reliant.

---

After a week, Fior was in good enough condition to leave the hospital. She took Riker to the Reliant, where Kirk had set up a make-shift nursery with the exclamation, "Surprise!"

"What...? Oh, Kirk, you shouldn't have."

"Well, how else will you travel the stars with my kid except in luxury!" Kirk jested.

Fior just laughed. "Alright, you. Let's get the little one settled and then we can go accept the next job."

Thus the monotony continued until Riker was old enough to go to school. Fior chose the school, and Kirk and Fior settled on that planet for the years it would take before Riker could strike out on his own.

When that time came, Kirk said to Fior, "I'm thinking about reapplying to the Tae Adon corporation. I got wind of an operation they're doing that's right up my alley."

Fior responded, "What, you're thinking of leaving me after all this time?"

Kirk just said, "No. I will still see you from time to time. But I can't get over the fact that those damned pirates got the better of me, and you, and the corporation has put out the call for capable captains willing to fight the Black Void. I can't pass this up."

Fior looked concerned. "You'll be engaging in combat with the Black Void, Kirk. You could be killed!"

"I have to do this, Fior. I won't be satisfied until the entire legion of pirates are wiped off the face of the galaxy."

Fior was silent. Then she just nodded her head. "I understand. I'll have to ship cargo again, I guess..."

Kirk interrupted, "No, you don't have to. I can support you like I have these past years. But if that's what you want to do, just know it'll make it hard to see you as often as I'd like to."

Fior looked up, "Kirk, I don't know about this..."

Kirk held up her chin, "I have to do this, Fior. Whatever you decide to do, just know that if you need me, all you need to do is call. I'll be there."

"I know. I know. When are you leaving?"

"When Riker is established. He still needs some guidance, so I'll be sticking around until I'm confident he's got his life handled."

"Okay, Kirk. At least with this I know I still have some time left with you."

---

At Tae Adon headquarters, Kirk was reapplying for a job when Taeio approached him and said, "You raise that kid right, Kirk?"

"I'd like to think so, sir."

"Oh please, drop the sir stuff. By the way, what are you applying for?"

"I'm applying to join the battle against the Black Void."

"You sure you won't surrender this time?"

"The mission is different, Taeio. Victory at all costs. Even if it means I die."

Taeio just nodded, then said, "Remember this Kirk. You've regained your spirit. Deanna, fast track Kirk's application to the new unit. I'm vouching for him."

"Yes, Taeio."

Taeio turned back to Kirk and said, "Welcome back, Kirk."