It took us a few days to catch up with Voyager which we used to train or relax, depending on the person. Echo and L'Naan, of course, used the Mind Linker to train while Katye meditated in the bedroom under her own Time dilation. Filigree and Nyka played or cuddled as I managed the ship, flying and keeping the core topped off.
During my downtime, I toyed with several bars of mage-steel, fusing different elements into the Metal. I had not given up the idea of creating a custom weapon, and what could be more custom for me than if it was made out of Chaos Metal? Thankfully, the first time that I had tried to make it was within the Mental Plane under Fae's control because it was a giant failure. Not only did it disintegrate the metal, but a clashing form of Chaos corruption was created that I found difficult to control and undo. Fae was forced to kick me out before it created a feedback loop in and reached her 'programming', but this was something that Tori had planned for to happen when he first created the Fae Dragon, so she had multiple protections for such a situation. Her best suggestion was to practice fusing multiple elements into a Metal bar before using an element as strong as Chaos... which is where I should have started in the first place, but I had not thought that it would go so badly.
By the time that we returned to Voyager, I had several stacks of metal bars with two or three elements fused within. L'Naan, interested in the possibility of what elemental mage-steel could do, took a bar of each type to Engineering for more research, since I was not planning on using any of it. She had already started making minor upgrades to Voyager's systems in the limited places that the mage-steel was better, so she was hoping that these would prove even more useful and give the ship a bigger boost.
Another episode had popped up while we were gone, yet surprisingly, it did not happen as it should. They approached the space of a race known as the Devore, where telepathy was illegal, and telepaths were sent to relocation centers. Obviously, Tuvok, Vurik, and a few other members of the crew fell under that definition, but Janeway had decided to go through, anyways. They created an ingenious method of hiding them, and a few other telepaths that they somehow picked up along the way, using the transporters in Cargo Bay One to dematerialize them and mask the residue with containers of contaminated anti-matter. I had to say that it was not one of Janeway's better ideas as they were subject to numerous and unexpected inspections that had everyone in stasis so long before the daring escape that they were beginning to fall ill. Not to mention, the terrible romance gag of Janeway and the Chief Inspector, Kashyk, even if it was satisfying when she played him back and saved the telepaths that he had been hunting.
"Why didn't you fly through Devoren space? There were ways to hide the Vulcans and Betazoids, and my ship's cloaking could have kept us hidden," I could not help but ask as Janeway and I caught up after returning to Voyager.
"I take it that I originally attempted to travel through their space in your vision," she mused with a smirk after taking a sip of her coffee.
"Perhaps," I chuckled then gave in, "Yes, you did... so, what changed your mind?"
She chuckled and replied simply, "You."
"Me?"
"Rebecca, you just returned from breaking the Prime Directive by typical Starfleet procedures. While I understand that you had a duty to sentient elemental creatures, what would your excuse be when you meddled in the Devore affairs. I know your character well enough and, with the unpleasant conversation with the diplomat, I knew that something would undoubtedly happen. We've been pulled into enough battles that weren't needed, so I steered clear of an obvious one," Janeway replied.
I wanted to argue, but I had nothing that I could say. L'Naan, Echo, and I had run several simulations based off what we could remember from the show, which was not much, but we made do with some buffed up ships from the databanks. Not only did we disagree with their telepath policies, but their ships were numerous and more powerful than Voyager, so we had been expecting a fight.
I sighed with a wry smile while shaking my head, "With a primary element such as Chaos, you'd think that I would be less predictable."
"You are only so predictable to those that know you well," she chuckled.
We chatted for a bit longer as I told her how we assisted Nerida with her training and how Echo shut down the Monean mining operation. Thankfully, Nerida was a kind soul and did not want to fight the Moneans or force them out of her territory, but Katye and I had drilled into her that if she kept getting sicker, then she needed to retaliate against them. As the embodiment of the massive ocean, her Water affinity was unrivalled within her Domain, and she had the ability to call on the ocean life to help her, like her 'big brother'. After a few years, if the Moneans forced her hand, she should be able to handle whatever offense they could mount.
An hour or so later, I returned to our ship where I only found Katye and Echo. Apparently, L'Naan had started testing the elemental metals that I had created casually, and all of Engineering was thrown into a frenzy because of the special properties that they had. I could only shake my head with a smirk as it reminded me of when I had first created the metal to make a necklace for Raven and the Ark Head Engineer commandeered it. I could already guess that my future would have me creating a lot of the elemental metals, if the last time was anything to go by.
We had a few days to settle back into our lives on Voyager before they were interrupted yet again. Several versions of my elemental metals proved to be far more valuable and useful than anything that they had currently... to the point that B'Elanna all but demanded that we stop at an uninhabited solar system for me to create more of the metals. Conveniently, we were passing through a region of space controlled by a race known as the Hazar'ova, who were more than happy to give us permission to mine their asteroid field in exchange for Voyager's help in repairing their power systems and making a few improvements that would reduce the waste that their system produced.
Since Voyager's course had changed significantly due to Janeway avoiding Devore space, I did not have my guard up, but I should have. Things had changed significantly since we joined and yet, special isolated episodes still managed to pop up. Katye and I, the only ones who could create the different elemental metals due to our past lives' strength, had only made a few hundred kilos before we were drawn into a gravimetric shear and crash landed onto a Class D desert planet. While it had been a cute episode originally involving Tom, Tuvok, and the Doctor, in which the audience learned a lot about Tuvok's past before he learned to suppress his emotions, Sancu decided to use it as a special Game.
"Well, well, well, quite the predicament you've found yourselves in," Sancu taunted, appearing on our bridge.
"Do you not see why we find you annoying?" I asked dryly as I turned around to face him as did the rest of the group.
"But I come with gifts! How else do you think the Fae Dragon could escape the gravimetric shear? Because Voyager won't be able to transport the ship once it figures out how to save you," he retorted with an annoying smirk.
"I'm guessing that this is an episode, so can one of the 'experts' explain the details before we hear the snake's offer?" Katye asked.
"Single episode, and us being here instead of the cast, means that we should experience a few months on the planet which has scavengers that will likely attack us for our resources," I replied and then turned to Sancu. "So, what is your help to keep Fae going to cost?"
With an amused smile, he replied directly, "You all have grown too used to this universe where you all near the peak of strength. It can't, and won't, continue that way with your journey, or this all would be meaningless. Instead of throwing you directly into the next universe, I will demonstrate the difference between this one and what you will be entering. The first universe that you entered would be considered a dead one as it had no mana outside of what was artificially created. This one, while it does have mana, would be nothing more than a backwater world in the Endless Firmament which rarely creates anything above the level of Demi-Gods. Your next universe will be at the level of a world that regularly births Gods, so there will be a level of suppression that you are not used to, especially for you, Rebecca, and Katye, as relying on your Chaos and Order affinities will draw a lot of unwanted attention since they are strong enough to threaten the Gods of the 'world', which could be a boon or a bane, depending on who's eye you catch."
I raised an eyebrow at his explanation then glanced at the others. Echo, I could sense, was up to the challenge, and L'Naan looked excited as well though Katye had a more restrained look, making it hard to guess what she was thinking.
"What are the risks and rewards?" Katye asked.
"The risks are your lives, of course, while the reward is not losing the Fae Dragon as you would without my help. If you agree to my Game, I will transfer the Fae Dragon into a storage device like your rings and then you simply need to survive and find Voyager's beacon in time for them to transport you all back to the ship," he replied with a Cheshire grin.
"Is Noss still on the planet, or did you remove her from your Game?" I asked.
"She is on the planet, yet not necessarily a Game Piece."
"Then send her home. If the crazy woman could fall in love with Tuvok, she has too much heart to be pulled into our mess... unless anyone doesn't want to make the deal?"
"I'm in," L'Naan said while Echo nodded.
Katye sighed and asked, "What about Filigree? Will the suppression harm her?"
"It won't harm her, but she will feel weakened by it, and only her Yang magic will work, though significantly weaker than she is used to... but it does have the benefit of training her magic far faster than on Voyager," he replied.
"Risk, reward," Katye sighed. "We have to protect Filigree. A single shot from an energy weapon will kill her if she can't manifest her Yang mana properly. But, if she has something to gain, we all do."
"It looks like we'll play your Game, Sancu," I said.
With a tap of his cane, everything was consumed by a white light, and then I found us all standing in the sand. It was like invisible chains were wrapped around my mana core and my natural connection to the ambient mana around us was dampened, making it hard to draw it in to fill my reserves. Obviously, I was not the only one who felt the effects as Echo and L'Naan both looked concerned by the sudden weakness. Filigree was also alarmed, but Katye knelt down next to her and calmed her down easily with a few soothing words.
Trying to stir my mana outside my body, it felt like moving through molasses, forcing me to use much more energy to create my Earth and Wind Domains. Typically, I kept my Domains at five hundred feet or less because the amount of information that I took in was overwhelming, but if not limited by that, I could stretch them almost a thousand feet in every direction. In this place, however, I was struggling to force the two domains to a hundred feet around me.
"How is it?" Katye asked, sensing me flexing my Domains.
"My Authority has weakened my magic to a tenth of its strength on Voyager. Echo, L'Naan?" I replied.
Both made a face at my words, but it was easy to understand why with their next statement.
"I can't manifest my mana outside of my body," L'Naan grumbled.
Echo, with Nyka on her shoulders, held out a hand and channeled some mana above her hand creating a few wisps of icy mana. "That's about the best that I can do right now."
"Your Weapon Force should not be as affected, but training here will help all of us get stronger," Katye said encouragingly, placing a hand on Filigree's head.
"This world wasn't peaceful in the episode, so with Sancu meddling, I'm sure that we aren't going to have an easy time. We need to find somewhere safe to hole up in before we worry about training. Phasers, everyone, and Filigree in the middle," I instructed.
No one argued and pulled their phasers out of their storage rings which Sancu had not messed with, unlike his last Game. Not only did we still have our phasers, but we even had our exo-suits, a few dozen mana crystals, and enough food to last us a couple of weeks, which unfortunately would not last the entire time that we were likely to be here. Water would be hard to find if we could not draw it out of the air on this desert world, food was scarce, with what they showed in the episode being especially unappealing, and there was a host of hostile aliens wielding whatever weapons and/or magic that Sancu had armed them with. Certainly, it was a challenge, but I knew that we were all looking forward to it...
A/N: Last week was my bday, so I didn't have as much time as normal to write. I'm hoping to have the second part out on Friday since I never planned this to be a two-parter, but hey, that's where we are lol