And now onto our final victim, the last remaining security officer from the Crazy Horse.

(She currently doesn’t have an actress picked out, so feel free to suggest someone.)

Who Is She?

Kyne Tolera is a Bajoran security officer, formerly of the Crazy Horse. Tolera is tough, hard-nosed, not afraid to make difficult decisions and someone you’d rather not fight with. 36-years-old in Earth years, her prime as a physical specimen is growing short. She’s had a rough time finding satisfaction in personal relationships as she tends to end up with assholes.

But that particular streak is broken when she meets up with Ronnie, who has crushed on her from the moment he came aboard. The two of them become close as they navigate the Borg filled hallways of the Crazy Horse and eventually, with survival unlikely, Tolera admits to Ronnie that his feelings have been blatantly obvious to her since day one.

The two enjoy each other sexually in what they believed were their last moments and since that point they’ve been an unofficial item. She sees him as young, naive, but someone she should protect and stand by.

What She’s Done So Far

1. Rescued and protected Ronnie Jellico on their previous ship, the Crazy Horse.

2. Made it to the battle bridge aboard the Crazy Horse and successfully transmitted a distress call for help. While there, made love to Ronnie Jellico.

3. Was beamed to the sickbay aboard the Challenger while making love to Ronnie.

4. Protected Ronnie as the two of them traversed the Borg infested corridors of the Challenger.

5. Killed a number of soon-to-be Borg drones who were previously Starfleet officers.

6. Transported critical supplies to sickbay.

7. Stood guard in sickbay as the weapon was being made.

If She Lives …

Tolera will become part of the crew of the Challenger, likely slotting in as second-in-command behind chief of security G’Rayne (a Klingon and a Bajoran working security together has all the makings of a mini-series). She’ll continue to pursue her relationship with Ronnie (if he lives) or be in a very hardened, hateful state (if he dies).

Tolera will likely become friends with Felicia (that Betazoid becomes friends with everyone) and perhaps foster a mutual respect with Trisha (the two came into conflict about the Borgified Cardassian). Tolera’s a tough nosed security officer and that’s a type of officer Captain Phillips likes (since he himself once worked security).

From a story standpoint, Tolera is fun to write. She’s always game for a good reaction and has quite a mouth on her, which makes watching her interact with the other characters entertaining as hell. She’s the only one out of this bunch that has yet to have a chapter with her POV in it, which makes her unique in that she’s become so crucial even without that advantage.

If She Dies …

Ronnie Jellico will be hurt. This would count probably as one of his first loves (and one he was really wanting to work out) and she is also the only other person from his first assignment left. Ronnie would become the last survivor of the Crazy Horse and would feel like the only reason he lived was because of her (not entirely untrue). Feeling as if his place among those around him wasn’t earned, Ronnie would double his efforts in proving himself, taking great risks in doing so which could have a number of unfortunate consequences.

Tolera’s death otherwise doesn’t make many waves as she is just a security officer, after all.

From a story standpoint killing off Tolera only really affects Ronnie, but that’s not to be undervalued. Ronnie’s views on the Borg are largely that they used to be people and sympathy should be had for them, but if Tolera dies those views will likely become less forgiving. Ronnie’s views will play an important part further on in the overall story as they’ll be key as it relates to his father’s views.

Tolera is a security officer and has no POV chapters to her name, which makes it almost too easy to kill her off, but out of everyone she would be the most likely to take the plunge in a desperate situation for the good of the ship. At the same time, that’s quite a cliche that can be avoided.

Who Should I Kill?

We now take a look at our third victim, Ronnie Jellico, former helmsman of the Crazy Horse and son of Admiral Edward Jellico.

(Currently doesn’t have an actor, but I’ll likely try to use the real son of Ronnie Cox, but if you have suggestions do let me know.)

Who Is He?

Ronnie Jellico is the son of Admiral Edward Jellico, formerly of TNG’s “Chain of Command” when he was captain of the Cairo. Ronnie’s name is a deliberate reference to actor Ronny Cox, who plays Jellico, and Ronnie himself is semi-canon: Jellico had at least one child (who was four at the time of “Chain of Command” and that is who Ronnie is).

By the time 2385 rolls around, Ronnie has graduated from the Academy and is assigned as a helmsman to the Crazy Horse. The ship was commanded by one of his father’s former proteges, which only made it worse for Ronnie when he arrived. He was branded as an “admiral’s brat” when he entered the Academy, but he wanted to prove himself.

Sadly, he has had difficultly doing that. Ronnie is a bit of a bumbling sort, not exactly brave. He’s easily swayed by his fears and isn’t known for taking stands. He has a huge crush on the only other survivor from his ship, Tolera, and has had one on her from first day he was assigned there. He’s a bit of a hopeless romantic and is awkward at expressing himself.

But there is potential there. Tolera enlisted his services as a wannabe engineer (he wanted to be one before he got the Academy) and he’s succeeded in his small acts of engineering when his back was against the wall. Under pressure, Ronnie tends to perform at his best, though his mind occasionally wanders.

What He’s Done So Far

1. Survive a takeover from the Borg aboard the Crazy Horse.

2. Successfully navigated the Crazy Horse to the battle bridge, where he engineered a way to get into it.

3. Admitted his feelings to Tolera, who then made love with him in the middle of the battle bridge as the Borg were trying to break down their door. (In their defense, they thought they were going to die.)

4. Was beamed to the sickbay of the Challenger while in the middle of making love to Tolera.

5. Upon the Borg invading the Challenger, navigated the ship with Tolera and delivered critical supplies to sickbay to help engineer the weapon.

6. Aided in guarding sickbay from the Borg as the weapon was being made.

7. Was the first to volunteer to go on the mission to deliver the weapon.

If He Lives …

Ronnie will have accomplished something his father never did: survive the Borg. He’s been trying to get out of his old man’s shadow for his brief Starfleet career and this will mark a major accomplishment for him. The survival of not one but two ships infested by Borg will give the young man a much needed boost in confidence and propel him onward.

If Taurik or Trisha dies, Ronnie will end up getting the ops position either way. His career advancement isn’t exactly at the forefront of his mind but added responsibility would help him grow as a person.

Ronnie’s relationship with Tolera would also progress, though in what direction is yet to be determined. The two came together under desperate circumstances and may not last once the adrenaline wears off.

From a story standpoint, Ronnie is one of my favorite characters to write. He reminds me of a younger, more awkward, lacking in confidence Hank Harrison. He’s a hopeless romantic and a young guy, someone I feel who can really grow if given the chance in story to do so.

If He Dies …

Captain Max Phillips will have failed to protect the son of one of his friends and mentors. Admiral Jellico called him out of retirement and trusted him with this assignment because the two were close. Losing Ronnie after all this will hurt Max and cause him to question his decision process.

The effect on the greater workings of the Federation will also be profound upon Admiral Jellico’s being informed of his only son’s death. This will make Jellico an enemy of the Borg and anyone who dares to propose they should be treated as anything else but a horror that must be destroyed.

Jenna Phillips will have to deal directly with Max’s feelings and the fallout of Ronnie’s death.

Tolera will be the one most immediately effected as Ronnie’s death will mark the second lover she lost during the mission (the first being the chief of security aboard the Crazy Horse.) Tolera will become hardened by the events and have an undying hatred of the Borg, which will impact her future dealings with the crew of the Challenger.

From a story standpoint, Ronnie’s death will have wider long-term ramifications than anyone of the crew will immediately realize. His father being Edward Jellico is a major key to future plot points of the story.

Who Should I Kill?

Our next possible victim is Trisha Reynolds, the Challenger ops officer and best friend to Doctor Felicia Sarzan.

Who Is She?

Trisha is a character that I feel channels a lot of ops officers. She’s a jack of all trades, master of none (much like many ops officers) and sees ops as a dead-end to her career. Ops is where officers go to get stuck for years on end as their peers pass them by in rank.

Trisha is a single child, hyper-competitive and focused on her goal of getting to admiral. She has career aspirations and tends to put those far ahead of any personal life. She wants more out of her career, wants more responsibility and more duties, but is assigned to ops as she is.

She’s best friends with Felicia, whom she has known since the Academy, and is one of the only people she can have fun with. Felicia and Trisha have a complicated relationship (more than friends/sometimes lovers/like sisters) that goes all the way back to the Academy.

Trisha is career minded but not without a conscience: she feels guilty about decisions and tends to carry that guilt for a long period of time; it has been known to influence her decisions.

What She’s Done So Far

1. She questioned a Cardassian prisoner and found out why he, and his crew, were attempting to close the Bajoran wormhole.

2. She helped Taurik in implementing the methodology in order to allow the ship to travel through a transwarp conduit.

3. She had a fun movie night with Felicia (including a girl-to-girl talk and a shower with her).

3. She took over for Taurik after he reported to sickbay to have his injuries treated.

4. She allowed the Cardassian crew to help out in engineering after the ship traversed the transwarp conduit.

5. She left engineering as it was being overrun by Borg and escaped the onslaught.

6. She aided an injured Cardassian (whom was infected with Borg nanoprobes) and got him to sickbay.

7. She helped Taurik engineer the biological weapon to help save the ship (despite objections).

If She Lives …

Trisha will have a lot of guilt over her actions in engineering. She feels as if she abandoned those people, whom were her responsibility, and left them to die. Jorac (the Cardassian in question in the above part) and she have formed an unlikely trust/friendship, but one that she feels he does out of some form of owing her more than anything.

Her relationship with Felicia has a good shot of growing stronger as she deals with all the loss and the guilt and the fact that her performance during the crisis will likely harm her career goals. She may even try to rekindle the brief romance she and Felica had at the Academy, but if that happens expect both parties to regret it at some point shortly after.

She will likely remain at ops or, if Taurik dies, take over for him in engineering.

From a story standpoint, she’s a bit of a difficult character to get a hold of. She has her playful side with shows itself a lot with Felicia but very little elsewhere and her thoughts are often slanted towards how she feels about what’s going on around her and her part in it. She likes to concentrate on work but doesn’t have a great dynamic with the rest of the senior staff (minus Felicia and Rajik). Her continuing life will allow her a chance to grow her relationships with others and possibly find a bobby that’s not career planning.

If She Dies …

Expect Felicia to be heartbroken and borderline wrecked. The two are very close and have been for years. Trisha’s death will leave Felicia feeling as though she can’t have close friends in life and will likely have her withdraw.

Rajik, for his part, will feel guilty he didn’t treat Trisha’s friendship (and by extension Felicia’s) as the valuable thing it was. He will likely try to reach out to Felicia and will be rebuffed. Felicia’s withdrawing will have effects on Jenna Phillips as well, who’ll want to comfort the Betazoid and nurture their developing friendship, but will also likely be rebuffed.

Trisha’s death will leave a hole at ops, likely filled by Ronnie Jellico (Admiral Edward Jellico’s son and our next potential victim).

From a story standpoint it’s pretty tantalizing to off Trisha and see the wreckage that comes from that decision. Felicia will be dramatically effected and Rajik will suffer to an extent as well. Trisha’s death, out of all the potential ones, will have the largest ramification from a personal relation standpoint between characters. It really alters the character dynamics for the whole ship.

 

Who Should I Kill?

First up is our resident Vulcan, senior officer, and chief of engineering, Taurik.

Who Is He?

Taurik is a canon character who premiered in TNG’s “Lower Decks” in season seven of the show. He was instantly a character I took to and wanted to use in some form or fashion in a story. It took a few years, but I finally managed to get him into one.

In my story, Taurik has been working in starship repair/engineering from space stations after the destruction of the 1701-D in 2371. Background information from Memory Alpha said that Vorik (of VOY fame) was Taurik’s twin brother (which makes sense because they’re both played by the same actor). So, in my story, after Vorik was lost aboard Voyager that same year, Taurik promised his mother (who isn’t well by Vulcan standards) to stay off starships, which he did for the better part of 14 years till 2385.

Taurik is written like a lot of Vulcans in that he is cool, calm, collected and possesses a bit of a dry wit. Where Taurik differs and where he has really endeared himself to me is in his inner turmoil: Taurik is not so calm on the inside as he is on the outside, which is refreshing to see a Vulcan admit that (even if he doesn’t directly do it). Further, Taurik is an absolute idea generator — if there’s a problem, he comes up with a way to get past it. He’s been instrumental in coming through so far in the story.

Speaking of …

What He’s Done So Far

1. Taurik accepted the post of chief engineer aboard the Challenger and managed to get the ship running smoothly out of dock (despite it being rushed out).

2. He was able to successfully adapt a methodology used by the Enterprise and Voyager to enter transwarp conduits and not die.

3. He succeeded in restoring impulse drive during a battle with a Dominion cruiser by crawling into a Jeffries tube and doing the job himself, suffering severe injuries and risking his life.

4. He succeeded (temporarily) in restoring visual communications throughout the ship, while being greatly injured and working with a decimated engineering staff.

5. He struck up an unlikely friendship with Doctor Felicia Sarzan.

6. He helped keep sickbay going when emergency power failed, playing a role in keeping three patients alive.

7. He helped engineer the biological weapon (despite objections) that would need to be dispersed through the ship in order to save all their lives.

If He Lives …

Taurik will have a massive challenge ahead of him. His engineering staff has been decimated, as well as at least half the Challenger crew, and he’ll have to effect short-term and long-term repairs in order to give the ship a fighting chance in enemy territory. Doing this while understaffed will be incredibly difficult.

Further, Taurik will continue to explore the unlikely friendship he’s struck up with Felicia, and the dynamics between them could get interesting …

From a story standpoint, Taurik living makes my life easier as an author. He’s a go-to idea guy who comes up with some really good sounding stuff (that actually doesn’t seem as looney as some of Trek’s technobabble). He has a lot of potential in terms of revealing his backstory (which is heartwrenching) but it’s gonna take a while to get to that point. Vulcan’s aren’t exactly forthcoming when it comes to their personal history/feelings.

Taurik living would also introduce a new dynamic into the Felicia/Trisha/Rajik relationship (which Rajik sadly doesn’t get a lot of play with here, but he’s the XO and his mind is on work first) as he’s someone Felicia and Trisha like. Rajik respects him but I feel like the two are closer together than either would like to admit, at least in personalities, and that would lead to some conflict.

If He Dies …

Captain Max Phillips will have to find a replacement chief engineer on the fly, which will be very difficult considering most of the engineering staff is injured or dead. Taurik’s death would be a huge blow to deal with during a crisis situation and would have negative long-term implications for the ship/crew itself.

As far as the actual story stuff goes, Taurik’s key to an idea I have about how to make the ship survive longer but if he dies that becomes more difficult to pull off. He can still be a part of it (thanks to meticulous file keeping, he documents all his ideas) but without him physically there it’ll be harder to do.

Trisha Reynolds (our next possible victim) would likely slot in as the next chief engineer, which presents its own problems for her, the crew, and her friendship with Felicia/Rajik.

 

 

Ah, the joys of writing. I’ve recently found my stride again for my story Star Trek Challenger: Fool’s Errand and I’m glad for it, no doubt. The week has been fun so far and we’re only at Tuesday, but a problem has arisen: whom do I kill?

I’m at the point in the latest chapter (30 to be exact) that four characters are about to embark on a suicide mission that has to succeed to save the ship from certain destruction (or worse). The four characters are split into teams of two, both with equal chances of success or failure. One of them will die.

I’ve known for months this was going to happen (it was in the outline for the story) and have been dreading the point where I get here while also kinda looking forward to it. The arrival at this point marks the last leg of the story, where we begin to finally get a resolution to some things after what’s felt like months (and it has been) of dragging. On this draft, anyway. The original draft waited YEARS to get advanced before I ultimately scrapped it, but that’s another story. Literally.

Back on point, this chapter marks the beginning of the end for one of my four characters and I’ve fallen in love with each of them more than I expected. I wasn’t sure whom I was going to kill before and now I’m even less sure. But, that’s why we write, isn’t it? The thrill of getting to the point in a story where you can kill someone and agonize over it.

Each character has flaws, each has positive attributes, and each has an equal chance of going. Mostly. I have my own internal odds going on, but I’m still very much undecided. Over the next few days I’ll profile the four characters (who they are, what they’ve done in the story, and possible futures if they live/die) in question and then we’ll have an open, honest debate about whom I should kill. I may even open it up to voting for the final decision (let the people’s voices be heard!).

Stay tuned for updates and topics. As always, feel free to comment here or on the forums and thanks for reading. 🙂

This week’s Blog prompt is a nice one. Timely, even.

To AU or not to AU, that is the question!

Do you like writing alternate universes? Branching your characters off and seeing where a different path goes? Where do you start, and how do you go about it?

 

Do I like writing AUs? Of course! It’s fun in a number of ways. From the direct and obvious ways (taking my characters and twisting them into horrible versions of themselves) to taking a one off setting and expanding it into a full blown things (like I did with my Paths Not Taken story and the Borg rules all AU).

Picking a place to start, however, is tricky. AUs are only as good as the characters in them, like just about anything in Star Trek. I’ve recently been reading Star Trek Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the way the novel is constructed and the scenarios presented. Do I agree with the way some of these things happened? No. I find some of them too convenient and others far too similar to the Federation in the primeverse.

Too often I feel AUs are destined to try and resemble the primeverse. I dislike that notion but I very much liked this book and so I used it as my guide, in a way, to formulate my own series of MU stories that take place before, concurrently, and after Star Trek Chronicles: Book III. The new series, Star Trek Chronicles: Birth of Hope is set at various points between 2378 and 2385, culminating in the next big plot for the Chronicles universe that will take place over a number of years.

This series of stories is going to be massively fun to write. I like twisted and dark and the mirror universe has that in abundance. What it doesn’t have a lot of is hope. Or good writing. I’ve reviewed the majority of mirror universe episodes over the course of the last few days (especially DS9’s eps as they immediately set the stage for what’s progressing in the MU) and I’ve found the characters to be two dimensional and a bit flat.

DS9’s always getting praised for its amazing writing but I found the writers really didn’t do a good job on the mirror episodes. Where depth and direction should have been they replaced with cliched double-crosses, betrayals, and lots of death. I get that the MU is violent and a nasty place, but there’s order to that chaos. An order that was clearly present in MU eps in “Mirror, Mirror” and “In a Mirror Darkly” but was lacking in DS9s time.

I suppose the lack of a Terran Empire could be attributed to this loss of order but the MU eps in DS9 felt kinda lazy. And they’re not really enjoyable, just a bit cringe worthy. But, hey, that’s canon and I can roll with that.

How I started was pretty simple: I needed an event to be a chain reaction point. A point where something had to change. Now, I could have based this exclusively in the MU but as we’ve seen in every MU episode, the primeverse and MU are weirdly connected. One plays into the other and so I decided to use an event in the primeverse to set off a series of events in the MU. A series of events which the primeverse will be unaware of for the most part.

As to the writing of the MU, you have to acknowledge the differences in language and perception of things. But in that acknowledgement you have to recognize that the characters are 3-D being and shouldn’t be written like anti-hero/villain cliches which DS9 did very often in its MU episodes. The MU requires, IMO (all of this falls under that), depth and direction. It requires actual characters.

I plan on giving it that and I feel I’m well on my way to making up for the various shortcomings I perceive in the way the MU has been treated by modern Trek.

 

jespah posted the prompt here and I’m in the mood to address the questions, for the questions spoken of are good ones. So, let’s explore them one by one and see where I fall.

• What’s the best setting for an original character? Is it as a lone figure, thrust into a canon ship or situation? In a group of original characters but still in a canon ship, situation or series? Or as a stand-alone crew, group, political party or other agglomeration of individuals?

For many years I stayed away from having my original characters meet and interact significantly with canon characters. When I first began fan fiction, I was a noob. A total, complete, noob. My main character was very much author-avatar but I knew better than to try and force canon characters on the story — at least in any significant way. I didn’t feel ready then to write them at all. It was too easy to fall into the trap of writing a canon character poorly … being ‘one of those’ authors who couldn’t separate their own desires for the canon character for what the character actually was.

I didn’t want to be that new author. So, I set my crew and my ship in a mostly standalone setting. That crew, of course, would be the crew of the USS Pearl. They were my first and, as such, they were all original. The setting they were in was original and that style of writing pretty much became my go-to.

Only recently have I begun experimenting writing original characters with canon characters in a significant way. It’s different in a lot of ways, more difficult in some, but very fulfilling when I get the voices/movements right for the canon character.

• When do original characters and scenarios tip the scale from new spins on familiar works to out and out non-Trek? Is there a bright line between Star Trek and not-Star Trek?

This is a tough one for me. I don’t think there’s been a story I’ve read that exclusively had original characters and an original scenario that went into non-Trek territory. Most of the time I feel that way, original characters are being written with canon characters … and those canon characters are being written just plain wrong and have some sort of fixation on one or more of the original characters.

The divide, I feel, between Star Trek and not-Star Trek isn’t based on scenarios or settings — Trek is grand in that respect, as anyone can go anywhere and do anything in that expansive universe — but rather based on the characters. Like any episode of any Trek series, if the characters are well-written (or at least decently written) then I’ll buy just about any scenario they throw at me. If the characters are poorly written, then I won’t buy it at all — and I’ll likely spend the bulk of the story compiling a mental list of things I dislike about it.

Star Trek is well-written characters. Not-Star Trek is poorly written characters. My simplistic view.

• How can original character love interests be integrated into a more canon scenario? What about original character leaders?

To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve only just begun to write an original character love interest for a canon character (this month’s challenge entry, I Don’t Want It To End, featuring my OC Paul Bearrian and Seven of Nine). I have seen it done and the way it is done, frankly, is to not make it that special.

What I mean to say is, the author shouldn’t go out of their way to do it. I suppose I violated that thought with my own story but I think it should come about naturally. In defense of myself, neither Paul or Seven go out on dates so going out of my way to set them up wasn’t really so extravagant. But, as a general rule of thumb, I think letting it occur naturally is the way to go.

As for OC leaders being integrated into a canon ship … say, someone trying to take over after Picard leaves the Enterprise … I honestly don’t know. I’ve never tried to have an OC take over a canon ship. It seems wrong on some level, as the canon ship is usually tied to the captain and crew of that ship pretty tightly. I suppose the same rule of thumb applies: let it happen naturally and don’t force it.

• For canon characters who have very little back story or screen (or authorized book) time, what’s the tipping point between when canon converts into what is, for all intents and purposes, an original character?

The tipping point is when the author begins to add to, and flesh out, what limited story is done on the canon character. I tackled this particular thing with Barash, the little grey alien from “Future Imperfect” that was quickly forgotten about after his episode. His species, his life after, his thoughts … I expanded on them all.

‘What about Barash?’ was really one of the driving questions of the Chronicles series. What happened to him? His mother? His species? I took to expanding on Barash and he became a solid supporting player in the Chronicles series, one which I hope to feature more in his own way down the road.

I gave him a story after the episode, I gave him a species name, I gave them backstory … all these things I put into him. I think that’s when a canon characters becomes an OC, when the author puts in the work to expand them into more than just a one-off character or an occasional guest star. When they put in the work to fill in the gaps, to make them a person, that makes that canon character an OC.

To be Original is to be a person in my view.

• For representations of canon characters in fan fiction that are not well-portrayed (e. g. the author misses the mark and does not accurately represent the canon character’s language, ideals, vision, etc.), can the situation be salvaged by rewriting the story with an original character?

I’m going to say, for most cases, no. The reason a canon character was cast in the first place was to bring their established history, mannerisms, and self into the story. To aid the story. If you write the canon character poorly and the story’s wrong, substituting in an OC during the rewrite requires, really, a completely different story.

So if we’re saying that the author is going to substitute out the canon characters and replace it with an OC and try to keep the story the same, more or less, than I’m saying the story still suffers and can’t really be right.

If, however, we’re saying the author does the above but sets out to write a completely new story, one that is going to be different from the first attempt, than I’ll say that the story can be saved. In fact, it’ll probably be better. It depends on which way the author takes it. I would hope they rewrite it without the preconceived notion that it has to be like the first attempt but I don’t know.

• For original settings, what makes them unique? Can an original setting be so extraordinary that it, in a way, almost becomes a nonliving type of Mary Sue?

I feel that, for original settings, what makes them unique is the twists on the common settings that the original inevitably draws from. Everything has been done, we all know this, but it’s the details that make the original settings standout, at least to me.

Examples: For Steff’s Scotty stories, I don’t remember every ship he was on or what his job there was. I don’t remember every time he saved the ship from utter disaster. But I do remember Scotty sailing on the water, on a ship. That was unique, that was memorable to me … that detail. I remember his little penlight. I remember those things.

For kes7’s Tesseract series, I don’t remember what the ship looks like. I always imagine it as kind of a long cube looking thing. I see the quantum slipstream drive and the ability to launch smaller vessels from the larger ship, and I remember those things … but the detail that stands out most about that series is the kind of governing board the captain (whom I’m not a fan of — that’s right, Adele, I’m calling you out over cyberspace. Eat me, Betazoid) has to report to for the major, big decisions. I’ve never seen that done before. QSD, smaller ships launching from big ones, yeah … but a captain having a board of people she has to report to for big decisions was new to me.

May I also point out that the settings in both these two examples are also significantly made better by the wonderful writing of these two. I could probably go on all day, author by author on Ad Astra, but those two are the first to come to mind.

As to the secondary question, I think an original setting can be kinda Mary Sue if it doesn’t grow. Change. Evolve. Mary Sue type characters are always, more or less, perfectly amazing. They have no flaws and are awesome at pretty much everything. A setting can be that if it doesn’t change over time in story. I think.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

• Who are some of your favorite original characters that you have created? Do you feel they fulfill their purposes?

My favorite original characters … well, that would probably be just about everyone in the Chronicles series. They were my first. My favorites from those are, without a doubt, Hank and Bethany because both of them have evolved beyond their original (very limited) purposes. Hank was the nice guy captain who was basically an avatar of myself. Bethany was the girl next door designed to be Hank’s (and by extension my) romantic interest.

That was it for them and they’ve become so much more since then. They’ve both evolved and grown, despite me in some cases, and have more than fulfilled their purposes.

• What happens when you take a Mary Sue test?

My characters fail it. Hard. Which I’m proud of. When I first came into fan fiction, I was very weary of the Mary Sue characters. I had read a lot, a lot, of bad fan fiction before I stumbled upon the Omega Sector and Terilynn’s wonderful writing. When I read her stuff, I saw people and I modeled what I was doing after her in a lot of ways.

It can be said that I might give my characters too many flaws and this might be valid, but I feel like I got a pretty decent balance on things.

• What are some of your favorite original settings that you have created? Did they work?

My favorite one, oddly enough, is not related to Chronicles at all. It’s my Paths Not Taken universe, where the Borg have overrun and taken over everything. It’s a very dark, depressing, and sad setting but one that has such atmosphere. Ships are beat up, people are beat up, hope is virtually nonexistent, and there is a group trying to fight back. It’s really a fun setting to explore, both in past and present, and I quite like it.

• Who else’s original characters do you enjoy reading the most, and why?

The Tesseract crew. Love them to death (this is nearly literal, I kid you not). Every one of kes7’s characters have their strengths and weaknesses and all of them feel like they could easily be main characters. Not all of them are, but the fact that I can see each one getting their own main story and I like the idea speaks of how deep they’re written. The dynamics between them all don’t feel forced but rather feel normal, for them anyway, and it’s just fun for me. I like to read it and, when the occasion presents itself, write it (with the author’s permission of course).

• Are there others’ original settings that you like reading the most? What makes those original settings your favorites?

Captain Sarine’s Retribution universe is probably the setting I like to read the most. Sarine has a way of capturing so much about the setting itself, an intricate character in any story, that I’m quite jealous of. If you have the chance, read his stuff and pay special attention to the space battles (which are really more like paintings). The way he describes the things in space (some of them quite living) are brilliant and the setting of the universe itself is one of the most unique you’ll find in some ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My blog idea is to try and maybe see just how far out there some of us have gone, are considering going, or wish we could go in the pursuit of IDIC in our fanfics. So, of those who are doing it, what other shows/media (or even star trek eras) are people pulling into their fanfics as crossovers? What crossovers do some people wish we could see, or want to try and write themselves. How do you feel about crossovers in star trek in general?

From the wonderful TemplarSora comes this equally wonderful idea … and I actually have something to contribute here. I have fiddled in the crossover realm, briefly, many ages ago. It was during one of the monthly challenges, the Haunting Challenge as I recall. It was, as you can imagine, a challenge that was supposed to be scary or some such. Maybe ghostly.

Now, I don’t know if TS threw this prompt out there because he remembered this one time I did a crossover (I told him about it and he seemed intrigued) but I did in fact do a pretty fun crossover. I never got it finished for the challenge, and one day I may come back to it … so, ladies and gents (not ‘in gents’) I present to you the Eulogy of my one and only crossover.

I was, at the time, on a Ghostbusters kick. I had watched the two movies recently and was reminded of why I loved the guys so much in the first place. I dug up some old Youtube clips of the cartoon show, hoped for a third movie, and then the Haunting Challenge dropped into my lap. I wanted to do a ghost story, I wanted to write some Ghostbusters, and I wanted to so a good Star Trek haunting story.

But Trek isn’t know for its ghost stories. All the episodes I could think of that had ghostly elements always ended up with a scientific or technobabble explanation. There was never a true ghost story. Plus, as Trek went on, it went away from that pseudo-science and made its own pseudo-science.

I had to think on which Trek crew to write this story with. I decided pretty early on that only one Trek crew really worked for this kind of story and that was the TOS folks.

And then it struck me … the TOS crew sure did have a lot of skeletons in their closets. This made their selection all the better. The idea of combining of the Ghostbusters with Kirk/Spock/McCoy … well, it was just too enticing to pass up.

So, I wrote the story. I didn’t finish it, but it was fun. Perhaps one day I’ll come back to it.

Titled “Who You Gonna Call?” the story featured a few things that no other story I’ve written since has. It has titled chapters and the chapters themselves are short. I generally don’t title chapters nor do I write short chapters (I feel like a chapter should be 2000 words long at least, or pretty close to it).

Here’s the story in its entirety. It’s written in the style I was writing at the time, so it doesn’t read as well as my current stuff I think. But you can determine that:

Haunting Challenge

Ghostbusters/Star Trek crossover

 

New York, 1984

 

“Venkman!!” Ray yelled as he held his proton pack with as much strength as he had; which admittedly wasn’t a lot. He wasn’t known for his workout routine and Pete Venkman had taken the money Ray wanted to spend on a home gym and blew it on a new TV.

Ray wasn’t really concerned with any of that right now; he was staring at the portal of death and doom ahead of him. This portal was where the greatest single threat to mankind emerged moments ago and took the form of a…giant marshmallow man.

Pete took his proton pack and combined its stream with the others. “Ride’em cowboy!”

The portal wailed; Gozer wailed. The entity tried its best to kill them. It’s giant, flaming hand, reached for them.

It was then a piercing light burst through the entire rooftop. The building shook and then an explosion…

 

Planet Y 234, 2270

 

The transporter effect brought him back. It brought him back to where his most trying…his most heartbreaking moment of his entire life occurred.

Spock and Bones materialized right beside him.

“Amazing…just a few years and this place looks like a damned theme park,” Bones commented.

“Doctor, this is not a ‘theme park.’ This complex has been designed specifically to monitor and study the capabilities of the Guardian of Forever.” Spock looked over the large shape of the Guardian before him. “It was logical for Starfleet to create this.”

Bones glared at him. “Study it for scientific pursuit? Damn it, Spock, this could be a weapon in the making!”

“Your suppositions are, as usual, incorrect Doctor McCoy.”

Jim Kirk began to walk towards the complex, letting the conversation play out. He didn’t have anything to add and it was better for the two to have it out now. He didn’t feel like playing referee this day.

“Captain, I’m detecting a temporal disturbance.” Spock’s tricorder beeped and whirred in excitement as the stoic Vulcan looked over the readings.

Jim looked at the Guardian and then back at Spock. “What’s going on?”

“Jim!” Bones’ yelled. Jim turned his eyes back to the Guardian and stared in silence.

Before them all, the gate to the past activated itself. It spoke no words. The center of the gaping oval began to glow red.

“Energy readings are off the scale, Captain!” Spock said with a raised voice. “We must find shelter!”

Bones tried to grab him, but Jim held his ground. “No! I want to see this!”

“Can’t we see it from somewhere safe?!” Bones yelled.

There was no more time for argument; there was no more time for anything. The Guardian made a loud, groaning, noise as though the strange instrument was dying. There was a bright flash of white light and an explosion.

Jim and Bones were thrown back from the force, landing on their backs hard.

Spock was able to hold his ground, his hair fluttering in the wind as his eyes were focused on the Guardian. The force disappeared and the Guardian spoke for the first time.

“I…have failed…” The booming voice announced.

The gateway to the past crumbled before them. The Guardian of Forever was gone.

Jim stood up and helped Bones up as well. He looked at the crumbled ruins of the Guardian and frowned.

Bones stared at it in shock. “Is…is it dead?”

Spock flipped his tricorder shut. “Inconclusive at this time, Doctor.”

Jim clenched his fists. “Good riddance.”

Bones looked down at his uniform and pulled some white goo off him. “What…is this?”

Spock opened his tricorder and scanned the goo. He raised an eyebrow. “Fascinating.”

“What the devil are you talking about?!” Bones sniffed the goo and grinned. “It’s…marshmallow.”

Jim drew his phaser and put a finger up to his lips, signaling his two officers to follow his lead. Spock and Bones did just that; though Bones didn’t look happy about it.

Jim had heard something though; there were others here. He began to walk towards some rocks behind the ruins of the Guardian. His finger inched closer to the trigger on his phaser. The voices were getting louder.

His arm was solid. He counted down in his head the moments. One…two…three…

He pulled out from behind the rocks and aimed his phaser. “Drop your weapons!”

Spock and Bones pulled out behind him, but that only made the odds slightly better.

Four men stood before Jim, all of them covered in white goo, all of them holding what looked like some kind of weapon.

One of them stepped forward. “Yours first pretty boy.” He aimed his weapon at Jim and smiled. “You look so cute when you’re mad,” he said sarcastically.

Jim tightened the grip on his phaser.

Whoever these people were, they picked the wrong day to mess with him.

*****

Chapter One: Who You Gonna Call?

                Ray didn’t even notice the white goo dripping down his face and onto his shoes. His eyes were too busy staring at the men before him. He didn’t’ recognize them, but he was in awe of them. One of them even looked alien! Ray was smiling as wide as he could.

Egon took out the PKE meter and scanned the three men before them. “They’re not ghosts, Venkman. I think it may be safe to touch them.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Egon; real helpful.”

The lead man before them aimed his weapon at Egon. “What is that?!”

The tallest of the three men took out another device, box like. “Captain, I’m detecting concentrated levels of an unknown energy emanating from the packs on their back.”

“This is insane!” Winston said as he wiped the marshmallow off his face. “We’re the good guys!” Winston began to walk towards the three men.

“Hold it right there,” the lead man in the gold shirt said. He pointed his weapon at Winston and looked back to the last of three men, an older man. “Doctor, is he human?”

“Of course I’m human!” Winston yelled to no avail.

The last of the three, referred to as the doctor, took out another box like instrument and pointed it at Winston. “Seems to be…I can’t see anything that would make him alien.”

Pete aimed the proton pack at the gold shirted man. “Buddy, take our word for it, we’re human.”

“Lower your weapons or I will fire!”

“That would be highly dangerous and probably kill us all,” Pete said smugly.

“We may already be dead,” Egon added.

Ray’s eyes drifted up towards the sky. “Heaven sure is dark.”

“Dead?! I’m still alive and kicking!” Pete said with a smile. “Let’s test that theory; on the count of three I fire and we’ll see just how tough your gold shirt is, big man. One.”

“Captain, I recommend we lower our weapons-if we engage in a firefight we could destroy a large portion of the surrounding area.”

“Beautiful,” the doctor said sarcastically.

“Two,” Pete said slowly.

The lead man lowered his weapon and Pete, thankfully, did the same.

“My name is Captain James T. Kirk, of the starship Enterprise. This is my science officer, Commander Spock, and my Chief Medical Officer, Doctor McCoy.” He gestured to the corresponding men and glared fiercely at Pete. “And you?”

Pete lowered his proton pack and shrugged. “My name is Laverne and he’s Shirley,” Pete said while pointing to Egon. “We got lost in Queens and were wondering if you could point us to a nearby payphone. Shirley is willing to trade favors.”

Egon looked at Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. “I’m not.”

Ray stepped forward, his face lit up in excitement. “It’s…an honor to meet you. All of you…really…we never thought in a million years we’d be able to crossover!”

Egon looked at Ray. “That’s a possibility…but the PKE isn’t detecting anything out of the ordinary.”

“Maybe it broke on reentry?” Winston suggested.

“Look, ladies,” Pete said quickly, “we don’t give away our numbers to strangers on the first date!” He clapped his hands. “Let’s try and be a little more discreet, huh?”

“Who are you people?” McCoy asked.

Pete shrugged. “We’re not Laverne and Shirley…we’re the Marx Brothers—”

“Shut up, Venkman!” Ray yelled. He blushed in the excitement but turned his attention back to the three before them. “Look…we’re the Ghostbusters.”

McCoy leaned in to Kirk’s ear and said loudly, “I think they need medical attention.”

Spock stepped out in front and approached Ray. “What year is it?”

Ray stared at the taller being for a moment. “You’re…not human.”

“I am a Vulcan. I am only half human.”

“Ray!” Pete rushed to his side and pulled him away. “What are you doing?”

Ray ignored him and walked back to Spock. “You’re an alien? A real…live…alien?”

Spock gave a slight nod. “I am. Now please, answer my question; what year is it?”

“1984,” Ray answered.

Spock gave Ray a quizzical look. “Fascinating.”

“Ray, what if we’re not dead, but merely in a sub dimension of Gozer’s choosing?” Egon proposed.

Pete hung his head. “Nice optimism there, Egon.”

“Don’t think anything!” Winston said as he looked up at the sky. “We won’t fall for it again!”

Pete put a hand on Winston’s shoulder. “Chill out, comrade. I think Egon was being hopeful.”

“I was,” Egon said with a tinge of sadness.

Kirk stepped forward. “I’m going to have to insist on you coming back to our ship with us.”

McCoy took out his box like device again. “Their scans don’t show any abnormalities, but I want them in sickbay just in case.”

Kirk took a small device. “Kirk to Enterprise.”

“Scott here, sir.”

Spock turned to Kirk. “I request permission to stay on the planet and consult with the sensors of the science complex, Captain.”

Kirk nodded. “Very good, Spock. I want a report in an hour.”

“Understood.” Spock began to trudge off into the distance.

Pete pointed at Spock. “Why does he get to leave? What’s the magic word?”

Kirk frowned and looked back at the small device. “Scotty, I want you to lock on to our coordinates and beam us up-all six of us. Mr. Spock will be staying on the planet for the moment.” He looked back at Pete. “Have a security team ready.”

“Aye, sir. I have your coordinates. Security team has arrived,” the voice responded.

“Energize,” Kirk said quickly.

Ray felt a slight tingle going through his arm.

“Ray!” Pete yelled as he disappeared…seemingly disintegrating in gold energy before him. Ray’s vision became filled with the gold energy and he screamed.

In moments it was all over, and they were standing on a circular pad of some sort. Men in red shirts and black pants were pointing weapons at them. Kirk stepped off the pad along with McCoy.

“Take off your…packs,” Kirk said cautiously.

Pete stared at them. “Where the hell are we? And what the hell was that?”

“That was a transporter beam,” McCoy responded. “I’m not a big fan either. If you can take off your packs so we can go to sickbay, I can get you all cleaned up.”

Egon looked over the room and began to take off his proton pack.

Pete stared at him. “Egon?! Hello, we’re in unknown territory! What if they screw up our instruments!”

“Venkman, it’s clear their technology is a far more advanced than ours.” He set his pack on the floor. “I think this is all a dream anyway.”

Pete scoffed. “If this is a dream then where are the pretty women?”

The doors to the room opened and a pretty blonde haired woman stepped in. “Doctor McCoy, I’ve run the…” She stopped speaking when she saw Pete.

He was still covered, like all of them, in marshmallow goo, but his charming smiled wasn’t. “I think I found one,” he said happily. He began to take off his proton pack.

Winston threw up his hands and did the same.

Ray stood there, still shocked. He slowly slid his pack off as he looked around the room. The equipment didn’t look that advanced…but looks were deceiving here apparently. They stood on a large circular pad, and whatever means they had been transported here with wasn’t apparent. Ray could barely hold in his excitement.

Kirk nodded. “Good.” He turned to the men in red shirts. “Escort these men to sickbay and have those,” he said pointing at the proton packs, “put in a high security force field area.”

“Aye, sir,” the lead red shirted man responded.

McCoy motioned for them to follow and Ray stepped off the pad first. He walked slowly making sure it wasn’t a dream. He really didn’t want any more of his childhood memories being aired out in front of these people; he already knew Venkman wouldn’t let him live the marshmallow man down.

Pete limberly jumped off the pad and flexed his muscles. “Yeah…so, what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?”

The woman looked to McCoy and then walked up to the doctor. Pete’s advances were clearly rejected, but Ray knew that wouldn’t stop him.

As they left the room they entered the busy hallways of wherever they were. Ray was amazed.

Whatever had happened to bring them here, he was glad it did happen.

******

 

Chapter Two: Meeting of the Minds

 

Jim spun around in his chair and looked at Scotty. “Status report.”

“Ship’s workin’ fine, Captain. Nothing can shake her right now.”

“I’m worried that whatever destroyed the Guardian could damage us.”

Scotty shook his head. “No, sir. Whatever happened to the Guardian, it was a local anomaly.”

Jim nodded slowly. “I hope so.” He rose from his chair. “You have the bridge.”

“Aye, sir,” Scotty said with his usual amount of enthusiasm.

Jim boarded the turbolift and began the ride to sickbay. His mind was uncharacteristically out of sorts at the moment. He watched as the Guardian crumbled into nothing but chunks; rather than mourn the scientific loss, he was glad the Guardian was gone.

The device had led him to murder a woman in order to preserve history. There was no other way around it; Edith Keeler had to die in order for the Enterprise to live. The woman he loved had to die in order to keep everything he knew alive. He had questioned his decision then and he questioned it now.

Logically, Spock would tell him he was left with no other choice. What good was being with the woman he loved if he had to watch the world burn with her? Given the choice to do it again, Jim wasn’t sure what he would do. In the years since that journey through the Guardian he had been with other women; yet none of them really compared with Edith. Whatever quality made him love her was unique to her alone; it would be lost forever to the depths of history.

Now the Guardian was gone and in his place were four men who spoke the same language as Jim, who seemed human, but came from a time foreign to everyone aboard the Enterprise. He had read his history when he got back to the Enterprise and the year 1984 wasn’t one they had much information on.

It was, many Federation historians theorized, a year that was filled with a growing sense of dread for the population of Earth. The Eugenics War was going to take place nine years later and historians believe that the 80s were a cold war of sorts between the various powers of Earth. What exactly happened and to whom was unknown, most of the history of that time lost to World War III.

These men had come from that year but didn’t seem to be fearful.

The turbolift stopped and Jim got out, strolling towards sickbay. Any questions he had he’d be sure to get answered here.

The doors opened and Jim strode in. “Doctor McCoy?”

“Here,” Bones said as he appeared in the doorway, leaning against the wall. “They’ve behaved themselves, though they’re talking nonsense I can’t make heads or tails of.”

Jim gave a slight nod and entered the room. All four of the men were standing and the lead man, a Pete Venkman as Jim had heard him referenced, smiled at him. “Captain Kirk, a pleasure, really.”

The words seemed insincere to Jim but he played along. He flashed a smile. “The same to you Mr. Venkman.”

Venkman raised a finger. “That’s Dr. Venkman-I worked long and hard for that degree.”

“You didn’t,” the man named Egon said with a small grin.

Jim stared at Venkman. “If I could get your names-your real names.”

Venkman pointed at himself. “I’m Peter Venkman, he’s Egon Spengler, he’s Ray Stantz, and that’s Winston,” Venkman paused. “…uh…Smith.”

“Zeddemore,” Stantz corrected.

Venkman snapped his fingers. “Right, Winston Zeddemore.” He shrugged. “We’ve had a rough day-my girlfriend gets turned into a dog, we blow up half of Manhattan, and I got covered in marshmallow.”

Jim looked to Bones for help, but the good doctor only grinned in amusement. “Don’t ask me; I barely understand Spock, why the hell would I understand them?”

“None of that matters right now,” Stantz said excitedly. “We want to know more about you-are you ghosts?”

Jim shook his head. “We’re alive and well.”

Stantz looked disappointed. “You’re alive…and we’re alive…so…where are we?”

Jim looked to Bones again. “I didn’t tell them anything,” Bones said quickly. “I figured it was best to have the man in charge deliver the news.”

Jim nodded. “All right,” he said as he looked back at the four men, “the year is 2270 and you’re aboard a starship…a space traveling vehicle in the most basic sense.”

Spengler furrowed his brow. “We’re not in the ethereal plain?”

“The what?” Bones said confused. “You’re alive; how much clearer can we get?”

“Oh boy…” Stantz sat down. “We’ve…been taken to the future.”

Venkman scoffed at the notion. “If this is the future I demand a refund; my VCR is more advanced than this stuff!”

“I can assure you, you are indeed in the future.” The calm and cool voice of Spock silenced the room.

Jim turned and flashed a small grin. “Spock, welcome back.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Bones frowned. “I was just getting used to the silence.”

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Doctor, even in my absence there could be no silence aboard a starship.”

Jim waved his hand to cut Spock off, albeit gently. “Spock, don’t mind Doctor McCoy; your report, please.”

Spock clasped his hands behind his back. “Very well, Captain. Upon reviewing the readings recorded by my tricorder and comparing those to the sensors of the science complex, I have determined that an unknown energy source emerged from the Guardian at the exact same time as these men. This energy source collapsed the Guardian.”

Spengler stepped forward. “Can I see the signature?”

Spock looked to Jim and Jim gave him the go ahead. Spock took out his tricorder and Spengler looked over it.

“Well, I think Egon’s found a date,” Venkman joked.

Spengler seemed to ignore him. “Peter, this energy signature is the same as Gozer’s.”

Stantz got up and looked at the signature. “Wow…it is Gozer…how did she make it here?”

“I’ll have to get more information to make that determination. It’s possible when we crossed the streams we tore open a hole in the time space continuum.” Spengler looked to Jim. “This gate we came through…what was it?”

“A time travelling device built by a species millions of years ago,” Jim answered.

“That’s bad…oh, that’s bad.” Stantz clapped his hand over his forehead. “The energy to run a time portal like that must be enormous! If Gozer came through that she could have fed off it.”

“Judging by the readings here, I think that’s just what she did. Ray…we could be looking at an extinction level event in the making.” Spengler’s face turned to stone.

“The 1693 Salem witch trials…” Stantz shook his head.

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Colonial America.”

Spengler nodded. “That’s right. A huge amount of paranormal activity was reported in the Salem area in 1693; the only reason that an extinction level event was avoided was due to the death of the witches themselves.”

“You’re saying that there were real witches in Salem?” Bones looked back at Jim. “Maybe I should examine them again.”

“The witches served as conduits to the Earth; if they had remained alive, disease, death, and destruction would have swept across the planet thereby causing humanity to become extinct.” Spengler looked over the entire room. “Gozer has absorbed enough energy to wreak that kind of destruction; she can literally raise the dead at this point.”

“Not to mention she’s probably pretty pissed at us,” Zeddemore added.

“Let’s go get her!” Venkman threw up his hands. “We have a date to finish.”

Jim looked to Spock. “Thoughts?”

At that moment the red alert klaxon sounded. “Captain to the bridge!”     

Jim slammed his hand on the comm. panel. “Scotty, what’s going on?!”

“Captain, we’re under attack by some sort of energy field…shields are failing! Captain—” The line went silent.

The lights in the room dimmed. Spock took out his tricorder and scanned the room. “Captain, we’re experiencing a massive power drain.”

Jim looked back to the four men and scowled.

Venkman stepped forward. “Looks like we’re all you got.”

Jim clenched his fists. He didn’t like being forced into a decision…but he didn’t have a choice now.

No one on the Enterprise did.

******

 

Chapter Three: MIA

 

                Ray put on the proton pack and groaned. “They just seem to get heavier every day.”

“I’m sure your scale says the same thing,” Pete responded.

Egon activated the PKE meter and scanned the surrounding area. “This room is dangerous. We need to leave.”

“Come on, man! We’re in the future, being attacked by Gozer? It’s got to be a dream.” Winston looked at them all. “Right?”

Egon shook his head slowly.

Kirk walked into the room quickly, his weapon drawn. “Are you ready?”

“Hold on, pretty boy.” Pete walked to Kirk and then struck a pose. “Ghostbusters, assemble!”

Ray rolled his eyes and walked by Pete, along with everyone else.

“Fine, we’ll work on it!” Pete yelled after them as he followed. Kirk trailed behind him.

The corridors of the ship were darkened, the lights flashing on and off quickly. It provided a near strobe effect to the entire area.

The PKE meter grew louder. “Ray!” Egon yelled before an explosion of light erupted and all of them were blown on their backs.

An apparition appeared of a woman, kindly looking. Her figure was outlined in a strange purple glow and Ray could see through her. They all stood pulling out their proton guns from the packs and took aim.

“Wait!!” Kirk stepped in front of them, his arms dangling by his side. He seemed to recognize the apparition.

“Pretty boy, you let us get our guns to play cowboys; so let’s play!” Pete yelled.

Kirk shook his head weakly. “No…” he stepped toward to apparition. “Edith?”

Egon and Ray exchanged a look. This wasn’t good by a long shot.

“Man, it’s a ghost! Let us nab it before it kills us!” Winston’s hand inched toward the trigger on his weapon. “Come on, Kirk, move!”

The apparition took notice of them and her eyes flashed. In a second the room dissolved around them and the Ghostbusters were somewhere else, somewhere different.

“Get down!” An officer in a gold shirt lunged at Ray and took him to the deck as a bright beam of light flew over them-scarring the nearby wall.

Ray looked wide-eyed at the burned metal near him.

“Oh, hell!” Pete opened fire, further destroying the walls near him.

The man in the gold shirt stood and helped Ray up. “We have to get out here!”

“…what was that?!” Ray stared at the wall.

“A phaser blast-set to kill.” The gold shirted man extended his hand. “Sulu.”

“Ray…” he answered anxiously.

“This place is a death trap!” Winston pointed his gun into the darkness ahead. “I don’t see them.”

“No,” Sulu answered, “you wouldn’t. They looked like security forces…but it’s…it’s not possible.”

Egon scanned the area. “This isn’t good.”

“All those security officers…they died…years ago.” Sulu looked back towards the darkness. “They can’t be alive.”

“It’s happening, Ray.” Egon turned the PKE meter off. “The ship is highly conducive; the PKE in this room is off the charts. Gozer is raising the dead.”

“We have to find her,” Ray said quickly.

“I left her my number, I don’t know why she hasn’t called,” Pete joked.

“This isn’t some game, Venkman! We could be looking at the end of everything!” Ray clasped his hands over his forehead. “We’ve got to find her!”

“Okay, let’s, for the sake of argument, say that this is all true.” Pete walked around them. “We all have been transported to the 29^th—”

“23^rd,” Sulu corrected.

Pete frowned. “23^rd century. We’re in the future, where technology is less advanced then my VCR—”

“You did have a Panasonic.” Ray added.

Pete ignored him. “And somehow Gozer has become even more powerful.”

“That’s basically it,” Winston said unenthused.

“I hate to interrupt…but we have a problem.” Sulu pointed in the direction of the darkness.

Ray watched and saw dozens of red shirts emerging from the darkness. Some had been burned, others bruised and beaten, while still others had body parts missing. All of them were holding weapons-phasers as Sulu called them.

Pete aimed his weapon. “Lock and load, boys!”

Ray pointed his weapon as his eyes widened in fear.

This was going to get messy.

******

Chapter Four: Stronger Than Life

 

Jim couldn’t believe his eyes. Before him the woman he would have given the world to be with. She was just…floating there; a strange purple hue encompassing her, yet not detracting from her beauty. She was still the same Edith he knew. The kind smile, the live eyes, and the face of a goddess…all of them were Edith’s.

The glow faded and she materialized fully. Her color, her skin, everything about her was there…the last time he saw her she was wearing the same thing.

“Jim,” she said as her hand touched his face, slowly tracing its way down his cheek.

She felt so real…she was so real…

His hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, pulling it away violently. “What have you done with them?!”

“They’re safe.” She smiled at him. “I sent them away so you and I can be alone. It’s been…so long.”

His hand let go of hers. He put it behind his back to hide the shaking. “Edith…I…”

“Jim!” Bones rounded the corner but immediately put on the brakes. His eyes shook. “…can’t be…”

Spock, his tricorder in hand paused, his eyebrow rising. “Fascinating.”

“Spock…it’s Edith!” Jim smiled. “She’s here…she’s really…here.”

“Jim…she’s dead…I saw her.” Bones stepped forward but stopped. “She can’t be here.”

“Doctor McCoy is correct.” Spock scanned her. “She’s giving off no lifeform readings, Captain.”

His eyes met there’s. “I won’t give her up again…I…can’t do that again.”

Edith looked at them both. “Doctor…Spock…” She raised her hand. “I need a moment.” She waved her hand and before Jim they disappeared.

He stared at where they stood.

He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. “Bring them back!!”

And his love…his goddess…she wasn’t real. She couldn’t be real. He heard her die…he saw her body. He saw his future…his happiness…die with her.

She smiled. “Jim…you’ve been a bad boy.” Her voice changed to something other worldly…something dark and dangerous.

He tried to pull his arms away but he was locked in. He couldn’t move any of his limbs.

She phased through him and left him stuck against the wall.

“You humans are all pathetic…I am Gozer…and you shall all die!”

“I’ll kill you!” He yelled furiously, struggling against the wall.

She laughed. “Try…”

 

“WHOA NELLIE!” Pete blasted another redshirt away. “That’s 65 for me!”

Ray glared at him. “Venkman!” He fired his proton pack again and destroyed another redshirt apparition. “We can’t keep this up!”

“He’s right, Venkman. The energy discharge from the proton packs could overload the electronics throughout this ship-we have to stop them now.”

“Then let’s do it, huh!” Winston destroyed another redshirt.

“Well, Egon, what do we do? Dance, sing, or dirty favors?” Venkman asked.

Egon combined his stream with Ray’s. “Cross the streams!”

“Again?! Where’s the originality?!” Venkman crossed his stream with Winston’s and then they pulled theirs together with Ray’s and Egon’s.

The light from the streams was too bright and Ray closed his eyes. Within seconds it was over and the walls of the corridor were burned.

Sulu stepped forward and whistled. “What was that?”

Venkman hoisted his weapon with a smile. “That’s the power of Mr. Clean.”

Ray sighed. “Now what?”

Egon brought out his PKE meter. “Something’s not right. I’m detecting a PKE surge down that corridor…coming towards us.”

Sulu straightened up. “Mr. Scott?”

Scott’s hand drew a blade…dripping with blood. “Redjac…Redjac…Redjac!”

Sulu’s eyes widened. “No! It can’t be!”

“What’s a Redjac?” Venkman asked.

“An entity that committed atrocities during the 19^th and 20^th century…it’s been long thought to be destroyed.” Egon gripped the PKE meter tighter.

“Dear God…if Gozer and Redjac have partnered…” Ray held his breath. He didn’t dare utter the words.

“It could mean the deaths of everyone in this galaxy and more…Redjac feeds off fear and pain…Gozer is the perfect partner.” Egon drew his weapon. “We have to trap it.”

Sulu looked at all of them. “You can’t harm him…you can’t.”

Ray nodded. “We’ll try…but he’s being possessed. And if we don’t stop him, no one else ever will.”

Venkman grinned. “Just the kind of reassuring speech we here at Ghostbusters provide.”

Ray aimed his proton pack at the possessed man, his hands trembling. “Egon…ideas?”

“Trapping it is the only way to effectively contain the situation…Gozer will more than likely come after him, and the opportunity to trap her is too great to pass up,” Egon said quickly as he calibrated his pack. “Removing the spirit from the possessed will make trapping easier…”

At that moment, Spock and McCoy appeared behind them, each with a strange look on their face.

“Damn it, Spock, do something!” McCoy yelled as he saw Scott coming towards them, a murderous rage in the man’s eyes.

Spock calmly aimed his phaser and fired. Scott was hit and collapsed towards the ground, the knife clattering along the deck.

McCoy rushed over to the man’s side, his medical training taking over. “Damn it, Spock, I said do something, not shoot him!”

Spock approached Ray and the rest of the Ghostbusters, a quizzical look on his face. “Doctor, it was the only logical course of action. If I had hesitated, Mr. Scott would surely have been killed by the weapons these men have…he is now only stunned, and has a chance for survival.”

“Stun? Did you get that setting at Radio Shack?” Pete said with a smirk.

Egon nodded in agreement with Spock. “Good…with him unconsciousness we can remove the spirit and use it to bait Gozer.”

“Gozer…I think it has the Captain trapped,” McCoy said sourly. “We got whisked away here by something…not human.”

“An accurate, if crude observation Doctor. It is highly likely Gozer has the Captain and will use him to control the ship,” Spock said quickly. “It is paramount we rescue him before Gozer infiltrates his mind.”

Ray rubbed his forehead nervously. “Oh boy…oh boy…”

Pete patted Ray on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Ray…we’ll get nap time when we go back home.”

“Venkman, we need to move quickly,” Egon said seriously.

“Well?” Winston demanded.

Pete sighed and shrugged. “Why the hell not? It’s not like I got a date later…the whole turning into a dog thing is a bit of a mood killer, you know?”

******

Chapter 5: If All Else Fails…

“This is highly illogical,” Spock said with certainty as he watched the four travelers from Earth’s distant past-the Ghostbusters, as they called themselves-set up a machine he had never witnessed before. It was made up of four small devices from their packs, traps as they had explained it to him.

“All right…I think everything’s in place,” Ray said with a smile. “I can’t wait…been dying to try this theory out.”

“Dying is what made these things, I think we should stay away from it,” Wilson said confidently. “I’m not ready to die-not yet. I still have to see Michael Jackson in concert!”

“You know, I think he’s a fluke to be honest…no man can get girls dressed in all that leather and glitter,” Peter said with a smirk. “Well, no man besides me anyway…”

“I agree with Ray, we’re ready. Activate the traps,” Egon said.

McCoy leaned in close to Spock and said, “Do you think this has a shot in hell of working?”

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Doctor, if I may be so bold, I believe ‘hell’ is where we currently are.”

McCoy scowled. “You’re going to pick now to start having a sense of humor? Jim could be dead for all we know!”

“You’re hysterics are unwarranted Doctor McCoy; the captain is quite capable of surviving desperate situations.”

“You’re calling this a desperate situation?!”

Spock didn’t answer, but turned his attention to the traps. “Fascinating,” he uttered.

…

And that was it. I never finished the story. Sad? Yes. I did enjoy writing the Ghostbusters and TOS crew, though I did abuse the ‘Fascinating’ bit way too much. The story has its merits though and I hope to one day return to it.

I love Trek Crosovers. I’ll read any of them, even if they’re horrible, because there’s always one moment of fun.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

*blows off dust*

Okay, so it’s been forever and a day since I last posted. Like, over a year. I deserve all the hatred so toss it my way.

….

Done? No? Okay.

…

All right, now you’re done, right? Right. Let’s get to today’s topic which is, essentially, me telling you I’m cleaning up my archive page. For those of you that know me, you know I suffer from a really bad case of writer ADD and I jump around many stories. It’s a bad, bad habit and one I am still trying to break. It may not be able to be broken but my page on the archive is just littered with poor, poor, redshirts. All the bodies lie strewn about, missing key parts of their story because I’ve either moved on or haven’t gotten around to getting back to them yet. All of them could use some form of editing for sure and so, I’m pulling a lot of stories starting this Saturday (May the 25th).

This is going to be done for a few reasons. Primarily, because next week starts the review hunt and my many unfinished WIPs need to make way for other stories that deserve the light. They’ll be other review hunts and hopefully by then I will have things edited and new chapters up. But for this first one these stories are coming down, down, down.

Secondly, I need to them to come down so I can really look over them because some of these stories were posted out of excitement and did not see a very good editing process. I am weak as an editor but I need to take responsibility for my weakness … I shouldn’t be putting so many poorly edited things on there.

Thirdly, I really want to rewrite some things. A lot of things. Most of these WIPs have problems with characters/plot/setting across the boards. Some were experiments in different writing styles. Some were merely extensions of a universe I had fully yet to realize (but am slowly beginning to realize it now). A lot of this stuff needs to be taken a hard look at.

Finally, I want to clean up my archive page so people don’t get so lost in looking at all the unfinished things and wondering which one I’m going to get to. I’m pulling a ton of stuff so I can limit the number of WIPs I’m actually looking at to a few, maybe three or four tops. WIPs aren’t bad things but the number of them I have are bad in such large quantities.

So, many stories are coming down this Saturday. For those that have taken the time to review them and care about them, thank you. I promise I will finish these stories at some point in the future but I can’t promise that’ll be anytime soon. I hope when I repost them, when they’re better written and edited, you’ll take the time to read them again.

I promise you, they will be different.

But for now they have been redshirted and their eulogies are being written. Saturday, the axe drops.