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TEASER

The clank of boots upon metal warned her of her guest's approach.

Standing before the observation window of the construction facility that currently overlooked Earth, Empress Hoshi Sato the First turned regally, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.  She was unworried should her guest attempt to assault her; a personal force screen belt scavenged from the Defiant encircled her waist, and her First Prince, Travis Mayweather, was less than a meter away.  He was walking death with or without weapons, and had at least seven blades on his person at all times.

Face set in a fierce scowl, Commander Charles Tucker came to a stop three or four meters away from her and crossed his arms.  To her surprise – and secret delight – he did not genuflect like so many others did in her presence.  There was no fear in his eyes.  Mayweather's expression darkened at Tucker's calculated insult, but Sato shook her head slightly.

"You are late," she informed her guest, and Tucker snorted.

"So?" he said flippantly.  "I was busy."

"When I summon you," Sato stated coldly, "You will present yourself to me at once."

"Or what?" Tucker asked.  He sneered, and the scarring on his face only magnified the expression.  "You'll throw me in an agony booth?"  Tucker nearly spat.  "Death doesn't frighten me, Hoshi," he snarled, emphasizing her given name with contempt.

Sato nearly sighed.  Since even before her ascension, Tucker had been difficult to control.  More than any other person in the galaxy, she needed him alive to get Defiant fully operational and he knew it. Most of the primary systems aboard the starship were based on principles his alternate had developed, and Tucker had the only true insight into how that man's mind worked.  On more occasions than she wanted to count, he had thrown that fact into her face, and remained unafraid of displaying open hostility toward her.  Threats on his life only seemed to make him laugh.  The continuing well being of a certain prisoner in Sato's control was the only thing that seemed to keep him in place, but even that was beginning to wear thin.  The engineer was getting dangerous.

"What do you want, Tucker?" Sato asked abruptly.  From his place, Mayweather gave her a brief, incredulous look that she was bargaining with the recalcitrant engineer, but said nothing.  He was good at keeping his mouth shut.  "I need Defiant fully operational by October," she continued, "and the only way that is going to happen is if you are in charge of the repair crews.  So what do you want?"  She briefly considered smiling seductively, but he had never really seemed interested in her charms – especially not after T'Pol came aboard Enterprise – and the thought of taking him to bed was repulsive.  His face had once been pleasing, but now?  Now, she'd rather sleep with an Andorian than him.

"Two things," Tucker replied without hesitation.  "One, I want my own ship."  He gave the observation window a glance, once more sneering at the distant appearance of Defiant.  "And not that thing.  I want Endeavour."  Sato hesitated at that; she had promised Reed the Endeavour.  The MACO colonel could be assuaged with other things, though; the idea of him in charge of Internal Security very nearly brought a smile to her face, and she had long since learned that she could get Reed to agree to anything once their clothes were off.

"And the second?" she asked, already knowing what it would be.  She wasn't wrong.

"I want T'Pol."

• 
  
• Tucker doesn't believe that he has anything worth living for anymore (since his entire family is dead and the one person whom he thought he could trust (T'Pol) betrayed him), so he doesn't give a damn if he dies (hence his sudden development of a spine). His initial plan was to establish a super loyal crew and then get the frak out of Earth space, but the war has prevented that from happening. He also intended to make T'Pol "regret" for what she did to him, but when she was delivered to him, he experienced pity at how horribly she had been abused and decided that she already "regretted" what she did.
  
• While in captivity, T'Pol was turned into a trellium addict at Sato's command; it was the Empress' plan to use this addiction as a means of control (ala the Harkonnen plan for Thufir Hawat in Dune). As Act 1 begins, T'Pol is still getting over the last of her withdrawal (Tucker ordered Soong to break her addiction ASAP.)
  
• Sato has made it clear to T'Pol that, if T'Pol tries to rebel again, Sato will order Vulcan destroyed.
  
• Phlox is dead. Tucker killed him in IAMD 2.
  
• Eisler is fanatically devoted to Tucker because the captain directed Soong to develop a cure for the Krupitzer's. Said cure requires weekly injections, but Tucker had Soong show Eisler how to make the drug himself, thus earning Eisler's total and complete loyalty.
  
• Doctor Arik Soong was placed aboard Endeavour as a "spy", but he hates the Terran Empire. Once he realized/discovered that Tucker planned to bolt, he turned his coat and wholeheartedly supports Tucker. Recognizing a valuable asset, the captain has gone out of his way to make sure that Soong doesn't change his mind.
  
• No Hayes. No Drahn.
  
• Jealous!T'Pol. She doesn't like Hess in the slightest 'cause she (T'Pol) suspects that Hess has designs on Tucker. This amuses Tucker because he knows that the only way he'd get Hess in bed is if T'Pol was there too. (MU Anna has interesting tastes...)
  
• T'Pol is never referenced by the other crewmembers as the "first officer", but rather the "first mate." (This annoys the hell out of her).
  
• Alternate Season 3: Earth versus Andoria, not Xindi.
  
• Alternate "Bounty." The faux pon farr that T'Pol suffered was the "favor" that Tucker did for her.
  
• Alternate "Similitude." The engineering explosion that resulted in brain damage (and the symbiot being grown at Forrest's order) was also the cause of Tucker's facial scarring. To T'Pol's continuing confusion, she finds him more attractive with the scarring than without.
  
• Idea for thrust of fic: Endeavour is part of a task force dispatched to destroy the Xindi homeworld – enters the thermobaric clouds and passes through a subspace corridor that throws the taskforce forward to (an alternate) 26th Century. Taskforce is thoroughly FUBARed (since they're 22nd Century ships fighting 26th Century technology), and Endeavour narrowly escapes ... but not after firing some sort of weapon (based on microsingularity research by RU T'Pol acquired from Defiant database. Resulting explosion utterly destroys the new Xindi homeworld (thus being the cause of the warning by the Spherebuilders and the ultimate reason for the 3rd season of ENT).
  
• Ultimate ending of fic should revolve around Tucker & T'Pol preventing an assassination attempt on Empress Sato's life – this eventually results in Vulcans being elevated to higher than normal non-Terran status (as per "Mirror, Mirror").
  

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Jealous!T'Pol. She doesn't like Hess in the slightest 'cause she (T'Pol) suspects that Hess has designs on Tucker. This amuses Tucker because he knows that the only way he'd get Hess in bed is if T'Pol was there too. (MU Anna has interesting tastes...)

Rigil Kent

Jul 10 2007, 06:43 PM

Alternate "Bounty." The faux pon farr that T'Pol suffered was the "favor" that Tucker did for her.

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Idea for thrust of fic: Endeavour is part of a task force dispatched to destroy the Xindi homeworld – enters the thermobaric clouds and passes through a subspace corridor that throws the taskforce forward to (an alternate) 26th Century. Taskforce is thoroughly FUBARed (since they're 22nd Century ships fighting 26th Century technology), and Endeavour narrowly escapes ... but not after firing some sort of weapon (based on microsingularity research by RU T'Pol acquired from Defiant database. Resulting explosion utterly destroys the new Xindi homeworld (thus being the cause of the warning by the Spherebuilders and the ultimate reason for the 3rd season of ENT).

Kevin Thomas Riley

Jul 10 2007, 05:17 PM

And MU Archer is really dead here?

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I suppose there will not be a MU Romulan war then. Why? Or has it been established that Romulus has already been defeated by the Empire by this time?

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"And the second?" she asked, already knowing what it would be.  She wasn't wrong.

"I want T'Pol."

chrisis1033

Jul 10 2007, 11:40 PM

Eisler should kill MU Travis in brutal hand to hand combat when Travis tries to attack tucker....  :devil: