Where No Pony Has Gone Before: Supplemental Logs.

by FoalsHalf

Red Squad

Red Squad

"I can't say I'm happy about any of this," Benjamin Sisko said with an appraising look at his guest.

"No," Captain Kirk replied. "And we'll leave the call in your hands. But it seems Mister Nog has the potential to be a good Captain. Unfortunately, you and I both know the sort of things that shape a Captain."

"And Jake? He's not the same boy who used to build model starships."

"No. He's a young man who is learning to make sound judgments and someone Mister Nog listens to." Kirk pointed out. "At least this will be a simulation."

"That's true. I wish they didn't need to go through this but at least they'll be safe."

"As well as the crew on the Valiant," Kirk pointed out.

"May I ask a question, Captain?"

"By all means."

"Do you ever wish you never knew?"

Kirk paused in thought. "I'd be lying if I said I had no regrets. At first, I couldn't help but think about the missions already come and gone. The Constellation, the Intrepid, the Defiant, the crew of the Exeter, the Excalibur, Captain Garrovick and half of the crew of the Farragut, lives lost on the Lexington, Hood, Potemkin, and others lost on my own ship. If only... But that's like cursing good fortune for not being fortunate enough."

Kirk shook his head. "No. Then came the lives I couldn't save, even with advanced knowledge. By fixing one thing, do I cause worse damage elsewhere down the line? That's our responsibility. Lives depending on what we do or fail to do. But we have a chance to make a difference and I'm grateful for that. Besides, it's all partly your fault anyway."

"My fault, Captain?"

"Why yes... Lieutenant Sisko. It was your appearance at K-7 that convinced me that it would be possible to make use of the information in the discs we were given. And... now I know who it was tossing tribbles at me."

"We were looking for a bomb, sir."

"Yes, and you have my thanks for that. Death by exploding tribble isn't exactly the way I intend to meet my maker."

"Not exactly the way to Sto-Vo-Kor," Sisko commented.

"Not exactly..."

***

Cadet Collins stood at rigid attention as Captain Kirk stood in front of her. She had no idea why a genuine Starfleet legend had any interest in her. She might have been part of Red Squad but as some of her classmates reminded her, occasionally, she had only barely made the cut. Still, she was here, alone of all of them. It was quite perplexing. She and her fellow cadets had been summoned to report to the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-Σ. Perhaps this had been meant to replace the canceled cruise of the Valiant. Everyone was eager to find out.

"Cadet..." Kirk began, his voice surprisingly mild. "You and your fellow cadets are here to participate in and test a new series of training simulations. We used the profiles of the members of Red Squad to program the base simulation: A small starship... in this case, the Valiant... Is stranded behind hostile lines. Only cadets are left to man the ship. Being part of Red Squad, you should be able to notice any flaws in the program. For the purpose of this exercise, you will not be told which of your fellow cadets are your actual classmates and which are holograms to prevent observer bias. The same for anyone you encounter while in the simulation." He fixed her gaze firmly. "I will tell you and you alone that there will be two outside participants introduced into the simulation at a certain point. They have not been told this exercise is a simulation. This is very important as their reaction to the simulation will be further confirmation of the effectiveness of the program. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Dismissed."

***

Later the next day, Captain Sisko joined Captain Kirk in watching the ship's four holodecks. In Holodeck One, Ensign Nog was awake from his nap, now manning the simulated helm of the runabout Shenandoah, he and Jake Sisko having been beamed off the actual Shenandoah as they slept. Holodecks Two, Three, and Four were already running simulations of the USS Valiant, cadets having been randomly admitted to one of the Holodecks or other slowly over the course of the previous day. The sole exception was Holodeck Two. Only Cadet Collins had been sent there. At the appropriate time, Jake and Nog would be beamed into Holodeck Two for the remainder of the simulation.

***

"It was a good ship, with a good crew... That made a mistake."

Benjamin Sisko felt a touch of pride listening to Ensign Nog. Even as he felt an even greater pride in his son. Jake had seen the warning signs clearly. Had done his best to convince the Valiant's crew to see reason. Nog had fallen into the trap of wanting to be part of the group, wanting to be seen as their equal but in the end, Nog had seen their folly.

"He didn't fail us... We failed him."

Cadet Collins, on the other hand, had not yet accepted the truth. It was time to bring the simulation to a close on Holodeck Two. The simulations on Holodecks Three and Four were still in progress, their programs augmented with the data from the simulation run on Holodeck Two.

"Cadet."

Cadet Collins jumped to her feet as Captain Kirk entered the room with Captain Sisko.

"At ease. You three have been through a lot. Now, it's time for you to understand just exactly what and why. If you three will look at the monitor. Computer! Play 'Deep Space Nine' episode 'Valiant.'

The three young people watched in mute shock as the incidents they had just experienced, recorded long before they were born, played out.

"What was that, sir?" Nog asked, his curiosity warring with the sick pit in his stomach.

"That, Ensign,' Captain Sisko answered. "Is what really would have happened. A ship lost and a crew dead. And a proud father relieved that his son and a damn good officer had survived."

Cadet Collins shrank, noting her exclusion.

"Cadet," Kirk spoke firmly. "My evaluation of your performance: You performed your duties admirably. You believe that you failed your ship and Captain? Let me ask you: What could you, personally, have done differently. And if you can't find another answer other than to go down with the ship, then I submit to you that you didn't fail." His tone became almost gentle. "You were failed. What we need to decide is by whom. And you need to decide what you are going to take away from all this."

Collins nodded shakily. "Yes sir."

"Good. Your fellow cadets are still running the simulation on Holodecks Three and Four. I want you to join Captain Sisko and myself in observing.

"Aye, sir."

***

After watching the other simulations reach their expected conclusions, Kirk waited a couple of hours before assembling the cadets on the recreation deck.

"What you all have just experienced was a simulation. But it all too just as easily could have been real. In which case, you would all be dead and a valuable ship lost." He looked at Cadet Waters. "Any second thoughts, cadet?"

"Sir?"

"Cadet, I'm going to tell you something... All of you. In Command... It is not a Captain's duty to ensure everyone under his command survives. There may be times when you are required to send men and women under your command to their deaths. And you'll do it because you have to. Because if you don't, more lives will be lost. That said, it is your responsibility that those lives are not wasted. You may be called to defend a convoy or a colony. You may be part of a fleet. But sometimes... During my first tour in command of the Enterprise, we encountered a planet-destroying weapon of immense power after it had already hopelessly crippled another Federation starship. The sole survivor was an old friend of mine: I will dare you to find a better man or a better friend than Matt Decker. But his experiences had distorted his perceptions. Taking command of the Enterprise, he insisted on continuing to attack the machine that destroyed his ship. He had the legal right to assume command... But had Mr. Spock not relieved him, the Enterprise and her crew would have been lost."

He looked over all of them.

"That is what Starfleet expects of you: To perform your duties and follow orders, of course. But not blind obedience. Never that. Remember: you aren't invincible. You can and will make mistakes. You need to learn to recognize and admit to them. Because none of us are perfect. None of us are invincible... And none of us are immortal. Luckily, you all still have the chance to learn."

Kirk looked straight at Cadet Waters.

"Not everyone gets another chance. Make the most of it."

***

Later that day, a very frustrated Cadet Karen Farris sat in the mess hall, staring at her datapad. With an irritated sigh, she slammed the pad down on the table.

"Ye seem to be havin' quite the dilemma, cadet," a Scottish burr spoke. Farris looked up.

"Uh! Captain! I..."

Captain Scott sat down with a paternal smile. "Call me Scotty." He gestured to the pad. "It dinnae insult ye, did it?"

Farris, against her own will, blushed and smiled slightly. "Uh... No sir... um... Scotty... It's... I was sure these torpedoes would cut through the Jem Hadar Battleship like nothing! I can't find my mistake! All the math says it should work!"

Captain Scott chuckled. "Lass! Have ye ever heard of 'Perera's Field Theory...?"

Comments

[A.P.O.N.I.]

I'm always happy to see another chapter of this. I'm afraid, though, as the years go by, my knowledge of the characters and episodes is not what it once was. Could I please be reminded as to the Karen Farris' significance? Thank you.

[FoalsHalf]

11164592
Cadet Farris was Waters' second in command. She tended to be a 'by the book' sort. Especially when Nog suggested non-book methods to repair Valiant's Warp Engines. The actual details of the plan to attack the Jem Hadar battleship were her plans and when Waters was killed, she continued to fight a doomed battle rather than break-off, resulting in her death and sealing the fate of the Valiant.

[Scratchpad]

11164592
Karen Farris she was the second in command on the Valiant, and if memory serves she also fired the torpedoes that didn't work.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Nice to see a far kinder fate for Red Squad, and I do like that bit at the end. Nice callback.

[Iron Comet]

The episode with the USS Valiant was always a favorite one.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

What is that theory Scotty us mentioning

[A.P.O.N.I.]

11164622
11164655
Thank you both.

[FoalsHalf]

11164655
This is a callback to the novel 'Kobayashi Maru'. During a shuttle accident that leaves Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov stranded until the Enterprise can find them, Kirk, Chekov, Sulu, and Scotty each discuss their own experiences with 'The No Win Scenario'. Scotty(an unhappy command candidate), is put in command and uses the Perera Field Theory to destroy a Klingon attack group. The theory is that Klingon ships running together can link their deflector screens. (True) and if a photon torpedo is detonated at the right juncture point, it will detonate through the shields, damaging all the linked ships (not true). Thing is that ALL the math the instructional computers could do would support the theory. Scotty knew this. But Scotty's chief instructor also knew Scotty knew that in reality, for reasons not known, it didn't actually work. Because at age 16, Scotty had constructed three Klingon shield generators and tested the theory himself. As real-world experience trumps theory, his instructor declared that Scotty had 'cheated' and thus displayed an attitude not suited for command school and sent the grateful Scotty with a recommendation to Engineering School.

[MAD-3R]

11164655
It's related to the book 'The Kobayashi Maru' The theory states that a series of photon torpedoes, placed in precise locations along a wall of multiple interlocked shields will cause a catastrophic loss of cohesion. While as stated the math says that it works, when actually tested in real world it doesn't. In the book Scotty ruthlessly abuses the theory to blow up a truly ridiculous number of Klingon ships even though he knows the theory is wrong, the computer running the simulation doesn't.

[badninja]

A very good lesson learned here. I wonder if this counts as many of these kids Kobayashi Maru test?

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

11164685
Ah. I knew he pulled some engineering stuff to stay alive.

[tm2dragon]

11164685
Hadn't heard that one before, thanks for sharing! <3

[CaptRicoSakara]

Captain Scott chuckled. "Lass! Have ye ever heard of 'Perera's Field Theory...?"

Aberdeen Solution:
Created by Mr. Scott, using seven separate field generators to simulate the multiple interlocked shields of a group of Klingon warships , disproving the Perera Theory by proving that photon torpedoes would not cause an interruption of shield cohesion when precisely placed and detonated at the junction points of the field.

Anyways, great to see this great piece of Star Trek Crossover FanFiction hasn't been lost. Hope to see more chapters soon!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Always good to see more of this universe. I'm unfamiliar with the source episode, but the comments have been most enlightening. Thank you for another installment. I wonder if Sunset and human Trixie will ever know just how many lives they saved.

[FoalsHalf]

11167358
The total of lives saved may be incalculable. It is already known their gift saved the lives of 50 billion Husnock. Certainly hundreds of thousands of Star Fleet personnel, Klingons, and Romulans, Civilians on Betazed... And with Gul Revok dead, he can no longer betray Legate Damar. A SUCCESSFUL military uprising on Cardassia could save many of the 800 million Cardassian civilians killed by the Jem Hadar. Billions of Romulans will no longer die with the destruction of Romulus averted. So a conservative estimate of lives saved would be near 60 Billion.

[BestinDworld]

11164622
let me guess so it was a fight they could not win. if they simply fell back or retreated they would have lived but because they were following orders and a bit of pride in their squad ......it got everyone on the valiant killed and the ship lost....in other words they didnt fail their captain they failed themselves....am i right