Prologue: Part1: The First Meeting

(A/N: There will be some slight discrepancies. Gauged to take place 30 years before episode IV)

Qui-Gon Jinn watched the stars blur by as the Endurance entered hyperspace. The Consular class starship was one of the more widely used ships for the Jed, since at that time, they had no official vessel.

He thought carefully about the mission the council had given them both. His new, young padawan, Obi-wan Kenobi, were being sent to Manaan, in the hopes of settling a diplomatic crisis at Ahto City.

The Jedi Council had given him a data disk with a description of the planet, and the current dispute. Pulling it fro his robes, he stole a glance at it, wondering if there would be any way to solve the problem before him.

It seemed a Noval Yzalli had been given a permit from the ruling council of Manaan to build a second city on the surface of Manaans oceans. But just as construction had began, they began to make complaints to the Republic embassy to remove him from the planet, on the basis of “ruining the ocean”. While the republic had investigated his operation to see if there was any cause for this complaint, they hadn’t found any. But the Selkath continued to plague the embassy with messages asking for his removal, and so, they had asked the Jedi to both mediate and investigate the dispute.

He knew this would be his first real test of his padawan’s skills, but he had a strange feeling about the mission. Something he just couldn’t place. He had told Master Yoda of his feelings, but he had said the force would guide him where it wished.

“Perhaps might the force leading you be to Manaan for a purpose yes?” he asked, taking his usual style of talking with his sentences garbled. Qui-Gon had yet to understand why he spoke this way, but had learned from experience to ignore it.

Still, Yodas words had helped him only slightly. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen on this mission. All he knew, was that he would be better prepared for it if he meditated for a while.

Before he could, Captain Kaida Geilvta strolled in, a data pad in her hand. She was a good friend of his, ever since she had helped get him out of a sticky situation on Aargonar. The mission he had been on then had been a bit over his head, but if it weren’t for her kindness and quick thinking, he might not have been standing there that moment.

“Hello Kaida, it’s a pleasure to be on the same ship as you again. I was sorry to hear about the loss of the Jinotaur.” He said coolly, wondering if this visit was personal or mission related.

Smiling slightly, Kaida shook her head, dismissing the subject. “I’m just glad that the whole crew got out alive. But that isn’t why I’m here Qui-Gon.”

Glancing at her curiously, he took the data pad she was now holding out to him. He sped through the information, then put the pad on the table near him. He closed his eyes and thought carefully for a moment, then said

“Yes Kaida, I have no problems with us changing course to aid the Korodan. How long will it take for us to get there?”

Being the captain of the ship, Kaida was the one person onboard past the pilot who could possibly figure the math in her head. After a few seconds, she said “Dropping out of hyperspace and resetting the navicomputer will take about 15 minutes, and it’ll take us about an hour to reach the Korodan.”

Nodding, he soon followed her out of his quarters, in a search of finding his padawan, who he would need to inform that the mission was being put on hold for a moment. They chatted lightly as they neared the bridge, where she continued forward to the Bridge, he turned left to find Obi-wan talking with Selkath diplomat.

The contractor Noval Yzalli needs to understand that the Ruling Council is merely worried about the ocean, and that they are simply over exaggerating the problem.” Clph Lonarcch was saying to Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon was entering. Obi-Wan looked ready to continue, but then he noticed Master Qui-Gon leaning against one of the walls, listening intently to their conversation. Clph nodded to both of them and left, saying that they could continue their discussion later.

“Enjoying yourself my apprentice?” Qui-Gon asked, an amused smile on his face as he sat down next to Obi-Wan. He was still not completely used to him as an apprentice, but knew it would pass in time.

Grinning widely, Obi-Wan replied “Of course master. I was talking with Clph about the upcoming diplomatic mission, and what he thought about it. His view seems to be a bit different then that of most Selkath.”

“That’s probably because he’s spent more time around other races then many of his species.” Qui-Gon said, then decided to get to the point of why he had looked for him.

Obi-Wan nodded, understanding why his master had made this decision. “I hope we make it there in time to help.”

Qui-Gon nodded, and only hopped the ripple in the force he was feeling wasn’t connected to the Korodan.

***********************

Captains log, Stardate 18447.4:

The USS Pandora is on a routine patrol of the Omega Slavix system, along the Federation/Tholian Border. We have detected a strange spatial anomaly and are enroute to investigate it. First Officer Thompson has put the ship on yellow alert on the off chance this is the doing of the Tholians.

Captain Mary Galveston stood over the science station, watching the readings carefully. She had only had the Excelsior class USS Pandora for less then a year, but already, she knew almost everything about the ship, from its personality quirks to seconds before something was about to malfunction. Originally being an engineer, it made her much more capable of noticing such things.

Smith Thompson stood at one of the science stations, looking over Lt. Aira Matthews shoulder as they continued their scan. Neither of them was exactly sure what they had found, and it was well known aboard the ship that they both shared a love for science and the unknown. She smiled as she watched them out of the corner of her eye.

In front of her was Ensign Pi’talak, one of the few Romulans serving in Starfleet. He was still busy playing out scenarios of an encounter with the Tholians, whom he had stated his opinion that whatever they were going to find was probably being controlled by the Tholians.

Glancing back up at the viewscreen, Mary wondered if they would find anything new, something that wasn’t in the Federation databanks, when one of her newest crewmembers, a fresh faced Cadet by the name of John “Wesker” Madison, suddenly turned in his chair, “Captain, I’m picking up a distress signal. Its very weak, but I don’t think its because of damage sir.”

Now curious, Mary stood up from her chair and strode over to the communications console, and peered at the message Wesker was picking up. She could see why it was weak, since it was on a different wavelength then what normal Federation ships used.

“Put it on audio Cadet.” She said, turning back to face the rest of the bridge, so that she could better gauge their reactions and thoughts of the message.

After a bit of static, which Wesker quickly cleared up, muttering about hanging whoever was using this wavelength to confound him, which caused a few of the bridge personnel to chuckle a little the message came in clear.

This is the space freighter Korodan, we are under attack by the Pirate vessel O’rlak, and require immediate assistance, to any Republic vessels in the area, we are sending the hyperspace coordinates to assist us… This is the…”

Wesker ended the message, saying “Its on continuous playback. They obviously are in enough trouble they cant keep a live message.”

Ensign Ssverenth, the Pandora’s navigator, said in his hissing and slurred English

“The coordinates for this hypersspaccee is unfamiliar to me. But perhaps Cadet Wesker can trace the message.”

Mary nodded, turning away from the Saurian as he and Wesker quickly triangulated the coordinates of the message. When they were finished, they said

“Captain, the message appears to originate from the area we detected that spatial anomaly.”

Nodding, Captain Mary went to stand in front of her seat as she said
“Red Alert. Relay a message to Starbase VII on what we have found and set course for the anomaly, Warp factor 7.”

*********************

Qui-Gon and Obi-wan watched as the ship dropped out of Hyperspace. It had taken them less time then they had thought, but then the Hyperdrive was not a completely worked out piece of technology yet.

Stretching out with his feelings, Qui-Gon could feel the essence’s of both the Korodans and the O’rlak, both of which were still out of the Endurance’s sensor range.

“They are their Captain Kaida. Even though the Endurance can’t detect them yet, they are there.” He said motioning his hands in the general direction of the freighter they were attempting to rescue.

Nodding, Kaida went about getting the ship ready to render whatever aid it could, and proceeded to increase the ships speed so they would make it their in time.

Obi-wan sighed, and turned to Qui-Gon, asking

“Do missions for the council ever go as planned?”

Smiling slightly, Qui-Gon continues looking through the cockpits portals as he says “No, not really.”

**********************

Orlon Solo fired several blaster shouts down the corridor, hoping the shots took a few of the invading pirates out.

Just what I didn’t need he thought to himself as another of his crew spun around and fell to the floor, a blaster wound in the center of his chest.
The boarding party was made up mostly of Twi’leks, with a few humans and adapted droids fitted out for battle. So far, at least by Orlon’s estimate, they had killed only 10 of the invading pirates. From what reports he had gotten from his crew elsewhere, things weren’t going good there either.

“What we need is a miracle.” He grunted as he dashed to a new hiding place while sending another pirate to his cold grave.

***********************

The USS Pandora dropped out of warp after about 20 minutes of Chief engineer Janice Yun complaining that the dilithium crystals were going to shatter if they kept going at warp 9.

“Captain,” Lt. Matthews was saying, “We have arrived at the anomaly. The distress call seems to be coming from the other side of the rift.”

Mary turned and raised an eyebrow, stating “It would be nice of the science officer to actually tell us all what the anomaly is?

Flushing, Matthews turned back to her science station to make sure she had everything right, then turned back around.

“The anomaly seems to be some sort of spatial rift. As far as I can tell though, it is unlike any other rift known to Federation science.”

Frowning, Mary came over to look at her readings herself.

“How so?” She asked, looking from each screen, trying to find out why Matthews thought this rift so strange.

“Because it would appear that, instead of opening into another time, universe, or dimension, this one seems to open up into another Galaxy.”

Matthews stole a quick glance at the viewscreen, which showed the rift sitting there in space, an alien starfield visible through its gaping maw.

Suddenly, Ensign Pi’talak was saying “Captain, I detect two vessels on the other side of the rift. I’m picking up weapons fire both between the vessels and inside the larger vessel. Scans indicate it could be the Korodan freighter.”

Nodding, Mary turned to Ensign Ssverenth and said

“Bring us as close to the rift as possible, and lock tractor beams on both vessels. Have security and medical teams ready in transporter room one through three. Ensign Pi’talak, prepare to disable the pirate vessel once their clear of the rift.”

***************************

Prologue: Part 2: Gateway to a New World

Orlon Solo peered through the gloom as he snuck through one of the Korodan’s many access ways. Behind him were two more of the ships small security forces. He couldn’t remember there names, but he figured they’d all be dead soon enough.

The boarding party he had been fighting against had fallen back from a rear attack, and that had given his small group the chance the get out of there.

The crew of the Korodan were using hit and run tactics, hoping to damage the boarding parties as much as possible while they tried to round up the crew.

Rounding a corner, they found several more of the crew, blasters held loosely in their hands. They were peering out a grate, watching something. At first, Orlon thought it was the pirates doing a small patrol or search of a hallway, but then he heard weapons fire, two types to be exact, one with a short bursting sound, the other with a long whine to it.

“Captain,” one of the watching crew said as they came up, “I think our message was received.” The words were cut short as several of the pirates ran from the way they had been going, now intent on fleeing. Several lances of energy chased after them, as Orlon got his first look at their saviors.

One would have thought he would have sang for joy, but the first thing he thought of, and it was indeed the first thing he said, was

“Who the hell are these people?”

**************************

Qui-Gon Jinn pondered the strange situation they were now in. No advice of any sort from the Jedi masters of the past, or even the present, could help him here.

The bridge crew, along with himself and Obi-wan, were now close enough to the Korodan that they could see it in portholes. But what they were watching was what was disturbing them.

Right before the Korodan and the O’rlak was a giant rift in space, and from that rift could barely be seen, another vessel, larger then the two vessels at the maw of the rift.

It was not of any make that Qui-Gon had ever encountered. He could tell that some grace was built into the ship, and that whoever had built it had considerable power.

As they were watching, a strange beam of light snagged onto both vessels. It did not take long to understand that they were tractor beams.

First, the ship on the other side pulled the Korodan through, and then they began to pull the O’rlak through as well.

Kaida brought the two Jedi out of their thoughts when she said

“Full powers to the engines, I want us through that rift before that ship gets through!”

***************************

Captain Mary Galveston watched as the first ship was pulled through, and began to receive reports from the security teams she had sent aboard the Korodan. So far, things were going well. It hadn’t taken long to figure out which group belonged to the freighter, and which one was the pirates boarding parties.

The pirates are scruffier was the word Lt. Kelly had said when he sent the first report back. Already, seven pirates were sitting in the brig, and four were on biobeds in sickbay.

“Lt. Matthews, open hailing frequencies to the Korodan” she said, hoping that its crew would be able to respond. It would make sense if the Bridge was one of the more heavily defended places on the ship.
Nodding, Lt Matthews set to work, and seconds later was saying “We have visual.”

Static filled the screen for a moment, but Mary didn’t have to say anything. She knew without looking that Matthews was working on fixing the interference.

“This is Captain Mary Galveston of the USS Pan…” was as far as she got, for the person on the screen was already talking.

“Thank the force!! If the Republic hadn’t sent a ship we wouldn’t have made it much longer!” the man said, some blood trickling down from a wound on his head.

Sighing and glancing down, she turned to look back at him and said

“I am sorry to say this is not a Republic vessel. This ship is part of the United Federation of Planets defensive arm known as Starfleet. We are here to help your vessel.”

The man looked confused for a second, but before he was able to say anything, Ensign Pi’talak interjected by saying

“The vessel O’rlak is clear of the rift captain. Disabling now.”

Mary could almost picture the lances of energy striking the hull of the pirate’s vessel. The report that Pi’talak gave of the status confirmed her thoughts.

As she turned back to the viewscreen, she saw two of her security people coming onto the bridge along with another man. He seemed to know what he was doing as he came over to the viewscreen.

“Thank you captain, your Lt. here has explained some of it to me. The crew of the Korodan is in your debt.” He turned to Lt. Kelly, who came forward and introduced the man.

“Captain” Kelly was saying as he gestured at the man, “is Orlon Solo, captain of the Korodan. This is his second in command, Taelros Allerti.”

Smiling, Mary took a step forward, saying “A pleasure to be of assistance. If you have any wounded, my chief medical officer could assist you.”

A thin smile came across his face, and he nodded, then turned to Taelros and asked him to compile a list of the wounded so that the Pandora could take care of them. He then turned back, and asked

“Would it be alright if I come along with the wounded? It might help them keep calm”

Taking a moment to think it over, she nodded. “Of course. We would appreciate that.”

***************************

Qui-Gon had watched the large vessel strike the pirate ship with several deadly looking beams of fire. The ship now laid there, crippled.

Kaida stood her ground as her pilots brought the ship through the rift. It did not take long for the other vessel to notice the new presence, as they were soon receiving a transmission.

“This is Captain Galveston of the Federation starship USS Pandora. Captain Solo of the Korodan has told me your ship is that of the ‘Republic’. We are willing to welcome a small party from your ship to be our guests for a short bit. Pandora out.”

Kaida turned and looked at Qui-Gon, a silent question sparkling in her eyes. After a moment of thought, he again nodded.

“There is no problem with going aboard my friend. I sense no deception here, only warmth and kindness.”

Nodding, she went over to the comm panel and sent the Endurance’s answer.

*****************************

Shimmering onto the transporter pad, Qui-Gon stepped down with caution. Captain Galveston had said that some of them might feel a bit dizzy from being ran through a transporter for the first time.

To Qui-Gons surprise and amusement, Obi-wan lightly stepped down from the pad he had arrived on and was quickly conversing with Captain Galveston. Next to her stood Commander Smith Thompson, who he had been told was her second in command. A few inches away from them stood the command crew of the Korodan.

Like himself, Kaida had some trouble stepping down from the transporter pad. But once she was on the deck she was standing firmly nearby, waiting for the young padawan to finish his questions. Qui-Gon decided to help him along by saying

“I’m sure there will be plenty of time to ask questions, my young apprentice, but we must follow our host to her conference room, as was agreed.”

Reluctantly, he stopped, and apologized for taking up the meetings time. Mary, on the other hand, merely smiled at him and stuck her arm out towards the door.

“Shall we make way? Or do we wish to take a small tour first?”

*********************************

With the tour done, the group proceeded down a corridor, with Captains Solo, Kaida, and Galveston leading the way.

One of the things Mary noticed that confused both captains was the state of this galaxy. From what she had gathered, there galaxy only had one Interstellar group, with all the races living peacefully in it. They were confused by the factionalism that her own galaxy exhibited.

“..how is it that your Federation has been able to survive so long? If it weren’t for the Republic, our galaxy would be nothing but ruins.”

Grinning slightly, Galveston went on to explain that, while the Federation has fought wars, it has done its best to end them as quickly as possible with a suitable peace for all sides involved. She even went on to state that the Federation had even assisted in brokering peaces with other interstellar nations.

The group soon made it to the conference room, where there was laid out a small feast. As people found seats, Mary stated

“Choose whatever you wish. This little meeting is meant to create friendship and to exchange information.”

Within about ten minutes, everyone had something on their plates. Soon she noticed several of her senior officers talking with some of the guests, almost at random it seemed.

Soon however, Mary found herself in an interesting situation. She had heard the terms ‘force’ and ‘Jedi’ so much that she had asked what they were.

Not only did Qui-Gon and Obi-wan turn to stare at her, but so did Captains Solo and Kaida.

“The Jedi are the keepers of peace, they are what helps defend the republic. Surely your Federation has some Jedi in it.” Kaida stated, with a nod coming from Qui-Gon.

Realizing she had no ideal of whether or not she had ever encountered a Jedi, she asked what made them different from the rest of the beings in their galaxy.

This time, the question was answered by Qui-Gon. “Jedi are beings that have a higher concentration of metichlorians, a cell that is in all living beings. It is what some have called, the force cell. At certain levels, living things gain powers and abilities from the force. Much of it is mind oriented.”

Mary nodded, but only slightly. “Federation medicine has never recorded a cell like this, but there are some species in the Federation that have access to higher areas of their brain functions, allowing telepathy and in some cases telekinetic powers.”

After a moment of thought, Qui-Gon pulled from his robes a small device, then walked over to stand next to the captain.

“This device lets the Jedi scan the body to see what the level of metichlorians is. Would it be alright if I test your blood?”

Nodding ascent, she felt a small prick as a drop of her blood came to the surface of her arm. Qui-Gon put took the blood and inserted it into the device. Moments later, a few small beeps were heard from the device.
“It would seem Captain Galveston,” Qui-Gon was saying, “that had you been born in our galaxy, you would have been trained in the ways of the force.”

After a bit of surprised discussion, it was decided that the Pandora would be given one of the devices, and Qui-Gon also made a deal to transfer some data on Jedi training to the Pandora’s computer banks.

Suddenly, the intercom chirped, and Mary excused herself so that she could find out what was wrong now, which brought a chuckle from both captains.

Reaching the comm, she said “Galveston here. What is it?” After a brief discussion, she returned to the table, but did not sit down.

“I am afraid that we must end this meeting, as it seems the rift between our galaxies is closing. One of my bridge officers has stabilized it with a tachyon beam, but she isn’t sure how long it will last. Any trades being made should be made now, and then we must say our good byes.”

**************************

Qui-Gon stepped down from the transporter pad, a small case in his hands. In it were several data pads regarding Jedi training techniques, along with not only the metichlorians detector, but the design pad for how to build one.

“It was a pleasure to have been able to meet you Captain. I hope your life is filled with new discoveries.” he said, shaking her hand as she extended it.

Smiling, Mary said “Same here. May the Force be with you.”

After that, he stood on the transporter pad, wondering if they would ever see them again, and wondering what to tell the Jedi Council about this meeting between galaxies.

******************************

The Korodan and the Endurance turned about, and reversed course. Both ships were carrying the prisoners from the pirate vessel. As they were reaching the rifts threshold, they watched as the Pandora fired two torpedoes into the O’rlak. Then they were through the rift, and soon gone from the Pandoras sensors.

******************************

Commander Smith Thompson strode down the halls, a small container in held in the crook of his arm. He nodded cordially to every crew member that he passed as he made his way to his quarters.

He wasn’t in that much of a hurry after all, his last report to his superiors was only a week old, and at most they expected two reports a month.

Entering his quarters, he took the usual security precautions, and dimmed the lights. He then carried the case over to his personal computer, and hooked the case into his private mainframe.

After it showed it was connected, he brought up the file that no one on board knew about, not even Captain Galveston.

Retinal Scan Required.” the computer said after a moment. Keeping his eye level, he let the scan complete itself.

Scan complete. Commander Thompson confirmed. Section 31 database is now open.” the computer said, no tone to its voice.

With a savage grin, he said “Download all information on the the newly discovered Andromeda galaxy, and put priority black tag on all information regarding the Jedi.”

****************************

Interlogue: The time between
In the years following this event, Section 31 was able to discover a safe and practical way of slipping into the Andromeda galaxy, which held the revered Republic and their Jedi defenders.

At the same time, they had been training many of their rank in the ways of the Jedi, sort of at any rate.


Section 31 was and is an immoral organization, worse then the feared Tal Shiar and Obsidian order. They safeguard the Federation, doing whatever is required to make sure the Federation continues to exist.
They hide in the shadows, and use techniques and ideals that would horrify to no end any citizen of the Federation. Nonetheless, they are there.

When the research was finished, and the first Rift gate opened, Section 31 sent a single shuttlecraft, with only one occupant, trained in the ways of the Jedi, but because of their willingness to do anything to protect the ideals of the Federation, the occupant was closer to a Sith, something considered extinct in the Republic.

This first agent was one of many who would enter and infiltrate the Andromeda Galaxy. In fact, they played a role in the downfall of the Republic, believing that, eventually, the Republic might try exploring beyond their galaxy, and they could be a threat to the Federation. So they let a Sith Lord loose, letting him take over the Republic and turning it into an Empire, knowing that with him on the Throne, and his apprentice, that they would stay relegated to watching and ruling their own galaxy, where they would be no threat to the Federation.

Little did they know, that one ship and its crew would change this……. And her name, was Enterprise.