//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Trial on the Holodeck 
// Story: Star Trek Online: Sacrifice - Part I 
// by Admiral Wyatt Stone 
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"Here in Starfleet, we don't take some essay for our final, rather, we put our newfound skills to the test."

Strength.

Strength is something we have in our lives, whether it'd be physical or mental. It could be only a little, or a lot, but we all have strength to get us through our lives. I had to stand strong if I had any chance of saving the wasteland. There were many things that could've broken me, the cannibal town of Arbu, raiders, and the near indestructible threat of the Enclave. But I was daring, witty, strong enough to dare to face such enemies, and while it would result in me never seeing my friends again, I would save my friends and many others.

But I'd had limits, I had strong, but limited telekinesis, I had worked on a timer, and I could only gather so many allies, it was a miracle that we had defeated them all, especially the Enclave. 

Though, given the situation that I went through there, I'll bet I have much more to spare, and I'd need it for what would come next....

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The Tactical station was rough and I had retried several times, but after about a week I was ready. I felt like I could fight a Tholian with nothing but my hooves (although that would be highly doubtful)!

Though the best part was Engineering, of course. After fixing up the communicator, I learned about how warp cores function, and with some research, I figured out how to build a irradiated warp core, with a mix of magic-induced nanites to keep it fixed up!

It was a hell of a thing, and I ended up getting a commendation for my efforts. After I was done at the station, I got my next orders and even a sweet little combadge with a custom engraving of the numbers "02" to remind myself of my old home, a place that had once cared for the lives of several ponies, their lives in my hooves once I left here.

Before I made my way to my next destination, I stopped by sickbay to fix myself up. The doctor got rid of most of my scars, save for the one on my neck under my request, I needed something to remember my heroism and sacrifices for the Wasteland, of course. The thing that really had my doctor surprised was the Pipbuck I had fused to my foreleg after the adventure to Canterlot in the Pink Cloud. she said that it won't pose any real threat to my health, but she could remove it with a little surgery. Not wanting to keep my CO in the holodeck waiting any longer, I declined, saying if something really bad happens, I'd do so. 

After putting back on my repaired stable barding and saying good bye to the doctor, I made my way to the holodeck. Although I'd finished all my training in the two career stations, I'd need to be put to the test. What it was I would know when I would arrive.

It had been about four minutes before I reached the holodeck, several other cadets within the room standing at attention in front of the CO, a Vulcan with a yellow 25th Century Sierra uniform. As he saw me walk into the room, he spoke up in a calm demeanor. "Miss Littlepip, it is good you're finally here. Please, stand at your assigned spot."

I nodded as I walked to my spot in the line. To my right, I saw another mare next to me, a light blue pegasus with a snow white and blue mane and tail, along with an ice flower for a cutie mark. The thing that caught my eye, however, was that she was wearing a green visor. She looked at me as I tried to start up a brief conversation, something the other cadets were doing as quietly as they could before the briefing. "Hi, you ready for the trial?"

The pegasus said in a low, cute voice. "Oh, yes. I believe my efforts at Engineering will be quite acceptable." She cleared her throat as she answered. "Oh, my name's Snowdrop, by the way. You probably knew because of the visor."

I silently gasped as Snowdrop finished her introduction, the poor filly was born blind! To never see anything with your own eyes sounded like a scary way to live, but with how she sounded, she must be quite brave.

Shaking off the revelation, I replied back. "Oh, no, I must've been to focused on my studies. Name's Littlepip."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Littlepip, and even more so as we'll be working together in the trial." As soon as she finished, we heard a noise that started low before raising to a high pitch tune, then snapping off as the alert notified us the briefing was about to start.

As soon as all the cadets were silent, the CO began. "Greetings, I'm Commander Sobat, and I will be monitoring your progress in your final trial. You have all shown exceptional capabilities in your careers, and now is the time to put them to the test." As he paused, a hologram of a nebula and a small starship appeared behind him, high enough to where all of us could see. He continued. "In this trial, you will be operating various stations aboard a Reliant class light cruiser, the U.S.S. Michigan, and will face several struggles as you proceed, such as the dense gasses in the nebula and a few enemy vessels. This should be treated as a real scenario, so make every decision worth it in your mission to get the Michigan to safety. Any questions?"

As all of the cadets shook their heads Commander Sobat finished with, "Excellent, let's begin the simulation then." 

As he concluded his sentence, the room shifted in waves of energy until I was in the engineering deck of the U.S.S. Michigan, several officers moving about the balcony of the second level. The room was similar to that of the Sovereign class engineering deck, only there were two levels high as the room was made to fit within the Reliant class ships interior. There was a small hallway that led to the next room outside of Engineering, a three-way hallway that led to various parts of the ship.

As I approached a nearby console to my left, I heard a similar sound to the one in the holodeck, only it was quicker and lower in pitch. A second later I heard Snowdrop speak through the ship's intercoms. "Attention all decks, we'll be entering a nearby nebula in approximately three minutes. The nebula is colliding with an ion storm, so there will be more hazards than just having no shields or visuals. We've also detected a small Tal Shiar battle group nearby, so we're going to Yellow Alert. Be ready if they attack."

As the comms shut off I kept to my station, making sure the torpedoes were fully stocked and the warp core was in perfect condition. I saw another officer walk up to me and ask, "What's the status on those EPS conduits?"

As I checked the console for its status, I replied, "We'll need a little more work, but we should be fine for the most pa-" I was cut off as the ship shook from something impacting the ship's shields. The Tal Shiar had found us.

"Red Alert! To your stations, everyone!" The deck became heated and packed with officers saying their orders to others as the klaxon sounded. I could hear phaser fire from outside the ship as the Michigan began its fight with the Romulans.

As I operated my console, I thought on a strategy, Romulan ships use cloaking devices, right? I remembered something from the history lessons with Daniels, in 2293 the Enterprise-A defeated a Klingon Bird of Prey using a modified torpedo. If I could make something similar, we could probably win this battle quickly. But with the nebula and the ion storm, the torpedoes wouldn't make it to their targets before hitting the ion pockets....

Unless, we could lure the Romulans towards the pockets, and then fire the torpedoes at them, without their shields, they'll be space dust in seconds!

With my plan set, I tapped the console to talk to the bridge. "Engineering to Bridge. Do you think you could get some tractor beams onto our attackers?"

"Yeah, but it could drain our power. Why would you wanna do that, Lieutenant?" The captain asked as I replied.

"I think if we take the Tal Shiar towards the ion pockets and fire a torpedo or two, we could take them out." I quickly checked the console to see that we were stocked on auxiliary batteries. I continued with, "We could use the batteries to provide more power. It's a risk, but we have to try."

The captain was silent for a moment before he gave his answer. "Alright, we'll try, you better hope this works. Johnson out."

As the comms shut off I raced to a nearby EPS conduit, opening its vent as I turned to one of the officers and ordered, "Ensign, get me as many auxiliary batteries as you can carry! I'm going to give our ship some extra juice for our plan!" The officer nodded and raced towards the nearby storage room. I turned to look at another nearby console, I spoke to it. "Computer, get me a view from one of the fore decks." The screen changed to show a hallway with a window showing the nebula we were now entering, several green plasma torpedoes hitting the ship as they were following us in.

For a moment, the two T'varo warbirds and one Mogai warbird started to turn away from us, knowing what we were doing, but they were too late as all three ships were caught in tractor beams, the ships slowly following ours into the nebula.

The Ensign arrived not a minute later with several power packs, setting them down as I hooked one up to the conduits. I tapped on the console and spoke. "Engineering to Bridge! Your power should be coming back up now!"

The captain sounded pleased as he replied. "Our readings show balanced levels, keep it up for a few more minutes!"

"You got it!" I said as I let the power pack do it's job. I kept the comms on to listen in on the battle, swapping out the dead batteries with new ones as we kept flying towards the ion pockets.

I heard Snowdrop speak through the console as the ship was hit once more, sparks emitting from a nearby console. "Hull integrity is down to 73%!"

"Just a little further now." I heard another officer say as I swapped the third power pack into the EPS conduits, the ship shaking as another torpedo hit the ship.

I let out a breath of relief as the officer spoke up again. "We're in position, moving enemy vessels near the pockets." I looked to the console to see the ships being slowly dragged towards the ion pockets. They started firing more aggressively now, throwing plasma beams and torpedoes at us. By the time they were moved into position, one of the torpedoes hit the hull, the tractor beams disappearing and the Romulan ships trying to get away.

"Tractors are offline!" The officer said in a panic.

"Doesn't matter, fire torpedoes, full spread!" Captain Johnson said as a flurry of red Photon torpedoes shot out from the Michigan, flying towards the ion clouds.

"Come on..." I muttered as I watched the torpedoes get closer to the clouds, only a second later did they hit, exploding with a blinding mix of orange and blue. I then let out a cheer of victory as the three ships were ablaze, exploding one at a time before being sucked back into their singularity cores. As the black hole cores shrunk and exploded one last time in a brilliant green flash, the bridge officer spoke up once more.

"All vessels have been destroyed, sir! We did it!" I heard more cheers from the bridge crew as the captain spoke once again.

"Excellent work, Lieutenant Littlepip, great work on helping us take care of those Romulans." I heard the cheering die down as he spoke to Snowdrop. "Commander, what's our status?"

"Hull is at 58%, but we should be able to fix ourselves up in a few hours." The pegasus said as I spoke up.

"I'll lead the team, it's the least I can do for making us take such a risk." Captain Johnson then finished the conversation in a calm voice.

"Good, back to Green Alert everyone, we've won the day." The comms shut off as I started to grab my tools, but the room flashed again as me and my fellow cadets were back in the holodeck, Commander Sabot looking at us with a pleasant expression.

"Excellent work everyone. Your performance was outstanding in this simulation, especially your plan against the Romulans back there, Miss Littlepip."

I was surrounded by several stares from both the cadets and Sobat's group, smiles on many of their faces as they looked me over. Sobat continued. "You've all proven your mettle against a dangerous foe, and you're all ready to start defending the many different universes that rest in your hands. Congratulations." 

As Commander Sobat finished, the cadets, including myself, let out cheers and cries of excitement as we all celebrated. About a minute later Sobat spoke up one last time. "Now, you shall head to the Assignment station where you will find out where you will each be heading. Once you have done so, go to the shuttlebay and find your assigned timeship." We all nodded as he left the room, the rest of us following suite.

I trotted up to Snowdrop, the beautiful mare with the green visor smiling as she started. "That was a great plan you had, Littlepip, we would've been blown to bits if we hadn't pulled that off."

"Yeah, sometimes I'm a clever little pony." I replied before changing the subject. "So, what position are you aiming for?"

"Oh, well the bridge could use a pony with good skills on fixing the consoles, as well as having the ability to make turrets that shoot ice bullets."

I looked at her with a shocked expression, I've never seen a turret shoot ice projectiles before, it sounded like a cool idea that I had hoped to see sometime, especially if I was going to be on the same ship as her. I replied with, "Well, I'm impressed, did you know I built an irradiated warp core, using a testbed variant, of course?" 

Snowdrop smiled once more as she answered. "Oh yes, that was something, though, I'd probably need a little more experience on that kind of device. I'm more of a console/turret mare, as you see." The mare chuckled as she spoke again. "Well, assuming we won't be on the same ship, it was nice to meet you, Littlepip."

I took in the realization of that possibility as I replied. "It was nice to meet you too, Snowdrop." I held my gaze for longer than I should have, Snowdrop realized where I was focusing my eyes on and cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Oh, I.. hope I didn't put the wrong uniform on." I shook my head as I noticed my mistake.

"Heh, sorry, it's just that... you remind me of someone back home." I replied, laughing nervously as Snowdrop's expression calmed.

"It seems so." She said, blushing before she finished. "Once again, it was nice to see you, hopefully we will again sometime out there."

"Yeah, I hope so too." Before I turned to head to the Assignment station, I looked back at my first friend in Starfleet, smiling as I said, "Stay safe out there, Snowdrop."

"You as well." She said before we parted ways, Snowdrop making her way back to the main deck while I turned and went to the Assignment station.

"Good thing Homage isn't here." I thought to myself, thinking about how Snowdrop would react at the mention of such perverted ideas. The young pegasus probably would've been embarrassed badly if my friend said such things here, but as a Starfleet officer, that wasn't behavior right for the uniform. 

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I looked up to see the Assignment station. The line was small for the moment, and after a few moments I walked up to the officer on the other side of the desk, his eyes meeting mine a moment later.

"Ah, your name's Littlepip, yes?" I nodded as he handed me a PADD with information regarding my assignment. The officer spoke once again. "You've been assigned to E.A.S. Harmony, year 2410. Go to the shuttlebay and go aboard Shuttle 37, you'll be flown there upon boarding."

"Understood." I said as I put the PADD in my saddlebags and trotted left, heading for the shuttlebay. I was almost out the door when I heard a blare of static across my right. Looking up, I saw static on a viewscreen at the edge of the room. The curious pony in my head made me trot over to the screen alongside other officers, some gasping as we listened to the officer talking to the crowd. 

"It seems we've gained some new intel on her situation, her fleet has attacked Outpost 38 in the Japori Sector, we barely managed to run them off before they could destroy the colony." Daniels said to us as he walked to the viewscreen. He was giving us all a briefing on our new enemy we would be facing soon, and the news didn't sound good. As he continued, I wondered what this enemy was, or who she was. I raised a hoof as Daniels looked us over after finishing his sentence. "Ah, Littlepip, good to see you're here. I assume you're wondering who we're up against?"

"Yeah." I said as I put my hoof down before continuing.  "Who is this 'She' we're talking about?"

Daniels turned and activated the viewscreen before answering me. "Her name is J'ula. She was a member of the Klingon House Mo'kai that fought the Federation in 2256." The screen changed to show a large Klingon ship, escorted by several other ships, facing off against a much larger Federation starbase. The ship was quite unusual for a Klingon design, it had a bulky center section holding three pylons that stuck out the front of the ship, along with two circular pieces that sat on the top and bottom of the hull.



"Her last known act in the present was attacking Starbase 1 and activating a device that transported her ship out of the battle. From what we know, she's recruiting anyone that can help her avenge her house, which was wiped out after a blood feud that lasted a century."

I looked on in shock as Daniels explained the situation with J'ula, no wonder she's causing trouble in the timestream, her own clan of the Klingon Empire wiped out in their attempts to gain power, and now she wants revenge. But, why would she attempt to attack other universes for that? What did they ever do to her?

"At the moment, she's found out about the U.A. and our attempts to protect the many universes that exist alongside ours, and now she's forming her own alliance to try and stop us. Unless we work together and uncover her plans, the Alliance will fall to her, as will the rest of the multiverse. However, with you all here today, I have a feeling we'll succeed, when she attacks again, we should pursue her and find a way to gather any and all information we know about her. Any questions?"

The officers were silent for a moment, then shaking their heads as I spoke up. "I think everyone agrees when I say none, Sir."

Daniels smiled as he replied. "Excellent, now, you should get to your ships as soon as possible, they'll need your help in any way they can. Dismissed." With that, the officers made their way to the shuttlebay, myself included. Once I arrived to the shuttlebay, I looked around for my ride. As I gazed to the right, I saw it, an Aeon timeship, with the number 37 on its side. I trotted towards the shuttle, the pilot waving to me as I stopped in front of him.

He smiled as he said, "Hello Littlepip, I'm Lieutenant Traz, I'll be your pilot for the trip. Do you have everything set up and ready to go?"

"Yep." I said as I hopped into the shuttle, Mr. Traz on my left side. The shuttle vibrated as it started up, lifting into the air and out the hangar's force field, revealing the field of stars and the ringed planet of New Khitomer, the sun setting over the planet as the day passed.

"Temporal drive engaging in 3, 2, 1." My pilot said as a blue vortex opened up in front of the ship, surrounding the vessel two seconds later. It would only take about a minute to get to the Harmony, so I kept myself ready when the time came to leave the shuttle.

Though I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the starry sight we saw a second ago. The little pony in my head said only one sentence for me to think over.

"I wonder how Xenith would feel about this."