Voyager tumbled end over end over end and her crew, with internal gravity shut off, was bounced along the walls, ceiling, and floor just as much. Captain Kathryn Janeway landed finally on the floor - or was it the ceiling? - and did her best to stand as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the light, or lack there of.
She brushed her hair back and fell into the command chair as the ship jolted again. A bolt of sparks and fire shot down from the ceiling down to where she had been standing. "Tom!" She yelled as best she could.
No response came, so the Captain jumped out of the chair, braving the unruly ship once again. She reached the conn and helped Paris sit up in his chair. "See if you can get us stable!"
"It'd help if I could see my console, Captain..." Paris muttered, his wry humor still present.
"I'd call down to Engineering and tell you wife to get on it were comm systems still active." Janeway replied.
"Captain," Tuvok called, "Main power is offline. Before the comms went done, Engineering reported a possible warp core fracture, but the communication was scrambled when power cut off."
"Are the turbolifts operational?" Janeway called, moving from lower to upper bridge - determined to get the warp core back online, even if it meant fixing it herself.
Harry Kim pulled himself up using his console, "It looks like we've got hull breaches on decks 2, 4, 8, 9, and 10. No contact from Decks 14 or 15."
"Where are we?" Janeway asked, hoping at least navigational sensors were working.
"Space?" Tom replied dryly, after finding that sensors were not operational.
"Not funny Paris." The Captain replied as she moved to the command chair. "Get the viewscreen operational at least!"
"We have minimal picture." Tuvok called, bringing the image up.
A fuzzy image of, of all things, a planet appeared on the screen. "Is that a planet?" Janeway asked, "How could anything have survived? We SAW everything being destroyed. How'd we survive?"
Voyager shook again as the aft engines went out.
"Are you sure about that survive part?" Paris asked, getting a cold stare as a reply from Janeway.
"Do we have enough power to land?"
"I guess," Paris said, "But without any information on the planet, it'd be risky."
"If we don't land, we'll be dead." Janeway said sternly.
"Engaging atmospheric thrusters...and hoping they work." Paris called, beginning the procedure.
"Inertial dampeners are at maximum." Harry called as the ship shuddered again.
"Landing struts are down, but engines won't hold out forever." Paris said, taking the ship into a steep dive.
Janeway watched as the planet became closer and closer in the viewscreen, "TOM! Pull up!"
Voyager screamed against the pull of the planet's gravity and attempted to level off. A loud thump was heard throughout this process. Janeway looked back at Tuvok.
"All engines are offline."
"Manuvering thrusters are being pushed to max!"
"Janeway to all hands, if you can hear me: Brace for impact!"
USS Voyager shook and everything went dark as she hit the surface of the planet; a real crash landing.
Hours - or maybe days - later, B'Elanna crawled out of the Jeffories tube and onto the bridge, the Doctor right behind her. "Get to the Captain."
The Doctor nodded and scrambled over to the command chair, lifted the debris from around Janeway and revived her.
"W..what happened?"
B'Elanna came over to Janeway, "Whatever you guys did up here sure wreaked havok for the rest of the ship."
"Did we land?" Kathryn said weakly, attempting to stand.
"We landed, but we're damaged almost to the point of no repair. You're not going to like my report."
Janeway stood, "Gather the Senior staff. We'll meet in the Briefing room immediatly."
"Captain," The Doctor said while treating Paris, "I have injured, if not wounded that need me!"
"Hurry. We'll need everyone there to try and figure out where the hell we are..."
An hour or so later, Janeway sat lightly on the bulkhead resting her back up against the window. The senior staff were gathered around the table, most covered in dirt and who knows what else thanks to their crash landing - literally.
"B'Elanna...repairs?"
Torres groaned glanced at a PADD infront of her, "We're almost finished Captain. And I don't mean with repairs. It's gonna take at least a year to fix everything."
"We've suffered major injuries." The Doctor said, "So far, no casualities...but we can't get access to Decks 13-15."
"Why not?" Janeway asked, staring out the window.
"There's seems to be something blocking the turbolifts." Tuvok replied.
Janeway turned, "What about our Dilithium?"
Pairs shrugged, "We just gathered a bunch before our little tumble...We haven't been able to get to the cargo bays to see how much of it is still good."
"If we shut down life support," B'Elanna picked up, "perhaps cut light use to a minimum. And without having to worry about shields or weapons. We probably have enough to last us a few months."
"Not good. What about the shuttles?" Harry asked.
"Something in the atmostphere. It won't let the shuttles leave according to our scans. But then with the shape the scanners are in, who knows. I would suggest using their warp cores to help provide power." Jr said.
Lara closed her eyes, "You mentioned shuting down life support. Are we assuming this planet has breathable air?"
"It does. Most decks already have a breach on them, so if we couldn't breath it, we'd be dead." Torres replied.
"What about the future? What happened to the galaxy?" Paris asked quietly.
Janeway walked slowly around the briefing room making eye contact with each member of the staff before settling on Paris, "There's an old saying Tom, 'Man doesn't make the future; the future makes him.' We'll get out of this. It might be tough for a while, but we survived seven years without any Starfleet aid. This year of repairs should seem just like a weekend vacation.
"Besides, perhaps this is a new planet we can explore and take some shore leave once things get going.
"We don't know if we're alone or not on this planet...We don't know if there are other people, if they're on our side or not. What we do know, is that we will survive."
***
Schatten looked around in shock. Where was he? How did he get here? He decided to take flight and see what was going on and try and discern his location, but he suddenly found himself unable to do even that. He glanced down and saw to his shock that he was no longer an orb but had somehow taken the form of a humanoid. In fact, he was corporal!
How could this happen? Where was his father?
A sight in the distance caught his immeadiate attention. His jaw dropped (what a strange sensation) as he recognized the outline of the Gowwsian compound - a very beaten up Gowwsian compound - but the Gowwsian compound nonetheless.
He knew that if there were answers in this disgusting realm, they would be there. With a growl, he trudged off to the Gowwsian compound.
***
As Schatten entered the compound, his curiosity increased. The entire facility was in shambles. True, most of the structures were all standing, but that was about all he could say. Electrical systems seemed to be down - destroyed was a better word for it - and it was obvious that any weak areas, such as windows and doors had been blown out by high pressure.
Even more fascinating was the corpses scattering the ground. There was obviously a massive catastrophe here. Schatten liked that, especially considering it was his enemies who had suffered it.
"I see you've arrived."
Schatten turned to see an ancient Producian watching him cooly, one radiating as much power as Schatten himself. "Who are you, and what reason could you possibly give me for not destroying you?"
"I am Colonel Ov Korn. I believe we have a mutual friend, yes?"
"If you are referring to Shari, I wouldn't call him a friend."
Korn smiled cooly. "Perhaps not, but it is time you start considering who your friends are. You will need them for the conflict ahead."
Schatten cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"
"You were brought here for a reason, and you were not the only one brought here. Reach out; I'm sure you can still manage that. What do you feel?"
Shari found he did retain enough control over the Force - though it didn't feel like the Force, not quite - to probe the areas around him. Around the planet, he found scatterings of other lifeforms, mostly in groups of no more than five, but there were two other major concentrations of life. In one, he sensed the thrice-damned Soy Bean, while the other contained no recognizable energy signatures and was quite a distance away. Reaching out of the planet's atmosphere, he encountered something that he was almost unable to cope with.
Nothing. He looked at Korn in shock. "Where is the universe?"
Korn's smile broadened. "Why, it has been destroyed! We are all that's left."
"That's not possible...where will I get my meals?" He was suddenly stricken with a fear of something powerful enough to destroy a universe.
Korn seemed to be reading his thoughts. "Don't worry; those who have destroyed us are gone...in a way. And I have my own source of food for you, do not fear. It is unhealthy to be afraid."
Schatten felt anger and resentment boil within him toward Colonel Korn. Who was this Producian to tell him, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, what he should and should not fear? And why was he witholding information?
Confident once more, he decided to exert some of his dominance over this puny colonel. He strolled up to him nonchalantly, as if he didn't really care about the bug before him, and shot him the most dominating gaze he could muster. Korn didn't flinch. Schatten frowned, but continued anyway.
"Now listen, I don't have time to play games I want you to tell me what is going on this minute, or I will rip you limb from limb."
Korn shook his head. "Ah, kids. Just have to show their dominance. Ah well; it'll impress the simple-minded, and I'll be there to convert the more intelligant.
"As for what's going on, it's simple: your father and my mentor engaged Licht and Aaron in a massive final battle. Quite climatical, really. Their energies ravaged the entire universe. Of course, the Shadow sensed this coming, called up the protocols for such an occasion, and sent a list of predetermined people here, to Gowwsy, in order to battle to restore the universe. Of course, I sense more people then there should be, which means the Shadow screwed up somehow, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is we must figure out how to bring everyone back before someone else does. If that lot on Voyager gets there first, they'll be able to take control of the galaxy and finish off Shari once and for all. If we get their first, we can kiss my protege goodbye and rule the galaxy ourselves."
Schatten frowned as he took it all in. "How do we do that?"
"How am I supposed to know?" snapped Korn. "Do I look like the creator of the universe to you?"
Schatten frowned. "How do you know what you do know then?"
"If your simple mind is capable of noticing the difference," taunted Korn, "We aren't using the Force as you are used to. We are instead using a type of power offered to us by Ubel and Shari combined. Similar to the Force, but not the same. It is entirely dark, and it works some shu'shari principles in there too. That is why you aren't as effective at using it; you still must learn to wield it properly.
"This...dark energy, for lack of a title thus far, has hinted to me what would happen, and coupling it with some of Shari's predictions before the battle, I've worked out a pretty clear picture of what's going on."
"A picture. How do you know you didn't accidently paint over some of the truths?"
Korn shot him a frank stare. "Would you like to try to paint a better one?"
Schatten met his stare for a few long seconds, then begrudgingly nodded in agreement. "What do we do now?"
Korn waved his hand at the shattered ruins of the Gowwsian base. "We get this place up and running."
"How? Everything with electricity was destroyed."
Korn smiled. "I have my own power source. But first, we must establish a chain of command." He stopped to think. "I need someone who looks tough to convince the thugs out there to join us, so we'll put you in charge. Of course, I'll run things behind the scenes."
Schatten growled. Somehow, he didn't feel like he was really in charge. "Whatevery ou wish. Do we go out searching for our allies?"
"Oh, they will come to us. We must be simply wait for their arrival."
He slapped Schatten on the shoulder in a way that was supposed to be friendly. "Come on. Let's go check out that power source."
***
Soy nodded to Janeway and Brandon. Acky Jr, strangly, had asked to opt out of the meeting. "I can feel Licht's touch. He is telling me...yes, I understand.
"The situation is what we suspected. Everyone's dead, but somewhere on Gowwsy, there is a way to restore the universe. Our opposite numbers are gathering at the old Gowwsian facility. They have the same mission, but for different reasons. They want to restore the galaxy simply as a source of power. We must succeed before they do, or they will get that wish.
"There are spatterings of life around the planet. We must recruit them. All of us must learn to use a new power...you should be able to feel it vaguely at least."
The two others nodded in agreement at Soy's statement. They could feel some benevolent power pulsating around the entire region. Soy continued,
"This is a combination of Licht and Aaron's powers. It is pure light. Our rivals possess just the opposite power; pure darkness. If they learn to control it better than us, we are sunk.
"It will be a long process, saving this planet and learning to use this power. But it must be done. If it is not, the universe is doomed."
Janeway looked at Brandon, then nodded to Soy. "Well, I think we should put you in charge then."
Soy gave a affirmative nod in return. "For sure, you two are my lieutenants. We will prevail. We must. Janeway, how much of your crew survived the crash?"
"About a quarter. Not good." Janeway sighed. "Even if we could fly them in the atmosphere, debris in the shuttle bay disabled all our shuttles. Voyager won't lift off for at least a year, and we don't know if we can keep our power running for that long."
Soy shrugged. "We will make do. We must. The light will guide us."
Brandon snorted. "It better be a hell of a good guide."
***
Schatten nodded in begrudging respect. "Quite the operation you have here. Using dead people as a power source...you'd do my father proud."
Korn smiled. "I can't mass enough energy or control to use it as a weapon...yet. But the spirits of the dead Borg should be able to power our base and feed you for quite a long time. Don't gorge yourself though."
"Right...it's not healthy," replied Schatten sarcastically. "Well, we've got the leaders but no army. What are we going to do for that?"
Korn frowned for a second. "I haven't decided yet what we're going to do for cannon fodder troops, for our #s are nowhere near Voyager's, but we should have some of our soon-to-be allies coming soon."
"Great...I hope you're a hell of a good negotiator," mumbled Schatten under his breath.
Korn looked at him in mild surprise. "Why, I'm not doing the negotiations. You are. It doesn't look good to have your lieutenant do everything for you."
Schatten stared at him in shock. "I can't negotiate!"
"You're going to have to."
Schatten growled and muttered, "Wonderful."
She brushed her hair back and fell into the command chair as the ship jolted again. A bolt of sparks and fire shot down from the ceiling down to where she had been standing. "Tom!" She yelled as best she could.
No response came, so the Captain jumped out of the chair, braving the unruly ship once again. She reached the conn and helped Paris sit up in his chair. "See if you can get us stable!"
"It'd help if I could see my console, Captain..." Paris muttered, his wry humor still present.
"I'd call down to Engineering and tell you wife to get on it were comm systems still active." Janeway replied.
"Captain," Tuvok called, "Main power is offline. Before the comms went done, Engineering reported a possible warp core fracture, but the communication was scrambled when power cut off."
"Are the turbolifts operational?" Janeway called, moving from lower to upper bridge - determined to get the warp core back online, even if it meant fixing it herself.
Harry Kim pulled himself up using his console, "It looks like we've got hull breaches on decks 2, 4, 8, 9, and 10. No contact from Decks 14 or 15."
"Where are we?" Janeway asked, hoping at least navigational sensors were working.
"Space?" Tom replied dryly, after finding that sensors were not operational.
"Not funny Paris." The Captain replied as she moved to the command chair. "Get the viewscreen operational at least!"
"We have minimal picture." Tuvok called, bringing the image up.
A fuzzy image of, of all things, a planet appeared on the screen. "Is that a planet?" Janeway asked, "How could anything have survived? We SAW everything being destroyed. How'd we survive?"
Voyager shook again as the aft engines went out.
"Are you sure about that survive part?" Paris asked, getting a cold stare as a reply from Janeway.
"Do we have enough power to land?"
"I guess," Paris said, "But without any information on the planet, it'd be risky."
"If we don't land, we'll be dead." Janeway said sternly.
"Engaging atmospheric thrusters...and hoping they work." Paris called, beginning the procedure.
"Inertial dampeners are at maximum." Harry called as the ship shuddered again.
"Landing struts are down, but engines won't hold out forever." Paris said, taking the ship into a steep dive.
Janeway watched as the planet became closer and closer in the viewscreen, "TOM! Pull up!"
Voyager screamed against the pull of the planet's gravity and attempted to level off. A loud thump was heard throughout this process. Janeway looked back at Tuvok.
"All engines are offline."
"Manuvering thrusters are being pushed to max!"
"Janeway to all hands, if you can hear me: Brace for impact!"
USS Voyager shook and everything went dark as she hit the surface of the planet; a real crash landing.
Hours - or maybe days - later, B'Elanna crawled out of the Jeffories tube and onto the bridge, the Doctor right behind her. "Get to the Captain."
The Doctor nodded and scrambled over to the command chair, lifted the debris from around Janeway and revived her.
"W..what happened?"
B'Elanna came over to Janeway, "Whatever you guys did up here sure wreaked havok for the rest of the ship."
"Did we land?" Kathryn said weakly, attempting to stand.
"We landed, but we're damaged almost to the point of no repair. You're not going to like my report."
Janeway stood, "Gather the Senior staff. We'll meet in the Briefing room immediatly."
"Captain," The Doctor said while treating Paris, "I have injured, if not wounded that need me!"
"Hurry. We'll need everyone there to try and figure out where the hell we are..."
An hour or so later, Janeway sat lightly on the bulkhead resting her back up against the window. The senior staff were gathered around the table, most covered in dirt and who knows what else thanks to their crash landing - literally.
"B'Elanna...repairs?"
Torres groaned glanced at a PADD infront of her, "We're almost finished Captain. And I don't mean with repairs. It's gonna take at least a year to fix everything."
"We've suffered major injuries." The Doctor said, "So far, no casualities...but we can't get access to Decks 13-15."
"Why not?" Janeway asked, staring out the window.
"There's seems to be something blocking the turbolifts." Tuvok replied.
Janeway turned, "What about our Dilithium?"
Pairs shrugged, "We just gathered a bunch before our little tumble...We haven't been able to get to the cargo bays to see how much of it is still good."
"If we shut down life support," B'Elanna picked up, "perhaps cut light use to a minimum. And without having to worry about shields or weapons. We probably have enough to last us a few months."
"Not good. What about the shuttles?" Harry asked.
"Something in the atmostphere. It won't let the shuttles leave according to our scans. But then with the shape the scanners are in, who knows. I would suggest using their warp cores to help provide power." Jr said.
Lara closed her eyes, "You mentioned shuting down life support. Are we assuming this planet has breathable air?"
"It does. Most decks already have a breach on them, so if we couldn't breath it, we'd be dead." Torres replied.
"What about the future? What happened to the galaxy?" Paris asked quietly.
Janeway walked slowly around the briefing room making eye contact with each member of the staff before settling on Paris, "There's an old saying Tom, 'Man doesn't make the future; the future makes him.' We'll get out of this. It might be tough for a while, but we survived seven years without any Starfleet aid. This year of repairs should seem just like a weekend vacation.
"Besides, perhaps this is a new planet we can explore and take some shore leave once things get going.
"We don't know if we're alone or not on this planet...We don't know if there are other people, if they're on our side or not. What we do know, is that we will survive."
***
Schatten looked around in shock. Where was he? How did he get here? He decided to take flight and see what was going on and try and discern his location, but he suddenly found himself unable to do even that. He glanced down and saw to his shock that he was no longer an orb but had somehow taken the form of a humanoid. In fact, he was corporal!
How could this happen? Where was his father?
A sight in the distance caught his immeadiate attention. His jaw dropped (what a strange sensation) as he recognized the outline of the Gowwsian compound - a very beaten up Gowwsian compound - but the Gowwsian compound nonetheless.
He knew that if there were answers in this disgusting realm, they would be there. With a growl, he trudged off to the Gowwsian compound.
***
As Schatten entered the compound, his curiosity increased. The entire facility was in shambles. True, most of the structures were all standing, but that was about all he could say. Electrical systems seemed to be down - destroyed was a better word for it - and it was obvious that any weak areas, such as windows and doors had been blown out by high pressure.
Even more fascinating was the corpses scattering the ground. There was obviously a massive catastrophe here. Schatten liked that, especially considering it was his enemies who had suffered it.
"I see you've arrived."
Schatten turned to see an ancient Producian watching him cooly, one radiating as much power as Schatten himself. "Who are you, and what reason could you possibly give me for not destroying you?"
"I am Colonel Ov Korn. I believe we have a mutual friend, yes?"
"If you are referring to Shari, I wouldn't call him a friend."
Korn smiled cooly. "Perhaps not, but it is time you start considering who your friends are. You will need them for the conflict ahead."
Schatten cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"
"You were brought here for a reason, and you were not the only one brought here. Reach out; I'm sure you can still manage that. What do you feel?"
Shari found he did retain enough control over the Force - though it didn't feel like the Force, not quite - to probe the areas around him. Around the planet, he found scatterings of other lifeforms, mostly in groups of no more than five, but there were two other major concentrations of life. In one, he sensed the thrice-damned Soy Bean, while the other contained no recognizable energy signatures and was quite a distance away. Reaching out of the planet's atmosphere, he encountered something that he was almost unable to cope with.
Nothing. He looked at Korn in shock. "Where is the universe?"
Korn's smile broadened. "Why, it has been destroyed! We are all that's left."
"That's not possible...where will I get my meals?" He was suddenly stricken with a fear of something powerful enough to destroy a universe.
Korn seemed to be reading his thoughts. "Don't worry; those who have destroyed us are gone...in a way. And I have my own source of food for you, do not fear. It is unhealthy to be afraid."
Schatten felt anger and resentment boil within him toward Colonel Korn. Who was this Producian to tell him, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, what he should and should not fear? And why was he witholding information?
Confident once more, he decided to exert some of his dominance over this puny colonel. He strolled up to him nonchalantly, as if he didn't really care about the bug before him, and shot him the most dominating gaze he could muster. Korn didn't flinch. Schatten frowned, but continued anyway.
"Now listen, I don't have time to play games I want you to tell me what is going on this minute, or I will rip you limb from limb."
Korn shook his head. "Ah, kids. Just have to show their dominance. Ah well; it'll impress the simple-minded, and I'll be there to convert the more intelligant.
"As for what's going on, it's simple: your father and my mentor engaged Licht and Aaron in a massive final battle. Quite climatical, really. Their energies ravaged the entire universe. Of course, the Shadow sensed this coming, called up the protocols for such an occasion, and sent a list of predetermined people here, to Gowwsy, in order to battle to restore the universe. Of course, I sense more people then there should be, which means the Shadow screwed up somehow, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is we must figure out how to bring everyone back before someone else does. If that lot on Voyager gets there first, they'll be able to take control of the galaxy and finish off Shari once and for all. If we get their first, we can kiss my protege goodbye and rule the galaxy ourselves."
Schatten frowned as he took it all in. "How do we do that?"
"How am I supposed to know?" snapped Korn. "Do I look like the creator of the universe to you?"
Schatten frowned. "How do you know what you do know then?"
"If your simple mind is capable of noticing the difference," taunted Korn, "We aren't using the Force as you are used to. We are instead using a type of power offered to us by Ubel and Shari combined. Similar to the Force, but not the same. It is entirely dark, and it works some shu'shari principles in there too. That is why you aren't as effective at using it; you still must learn to wield it properly.
"This...dark energy, for lack of a title thus far, has hinted to me what would happen, and coupling it with some of Shari's predictions before the battle, I've worked out a pretty clear picture of what's going on."
"A picture. How do you know you didn't accidently paint over some of the truths?"
Korn shot him a frank stare. "Would you like to try to paint a better one?"
Schatten met his stare for a few long seconds, then begrudgingly nodded in agreement. "What do we do now?"
Korn waved his hand at the shattered ruins of the Gowwsian base. "We get this place up and running."
"How? Everything with electricity was destroyed."
Korn smiled. "I have my own power source. But first, we must establish a chain of command." He stopped to think. "I need someone who looks tough to convince the thugs out there to join us, so we'll put you in charge. Of course, I'll run things behind the scenes."
Schatten growled. Somehow, he didn't feel like he was really in charge. "Whatevery ou wish. Do we go out searching for our allies?"
"Oh, they will come to us. We must be simply wait for their arrival."
He slapped Schatten on the shoulder in a way that was supposed to be friendly. "Come on. Let's go check out that power source."
***
Soy nodded to Janeway and Brandon. Acky Jr, strangly, had asked to opt out of the meeting. "I can feel Licht's touch. He is telling me...yes, I understand.
"The situation is what we suspected. Everyone's dead, but somewhere on Gowwsy, there is a way to restore the universe. Our opposite numbers are gathering at the old Gowwsian facility. They have the same mission, but for different reasons. They want to restore the galaxy simply as a source of power. We must succeed before they do, or they will get that wish.
"There are spatterings of life around the planet. We must recruit them. All of us must learn to use a new power...you should be able to feel it vaguely at least."
The two others nodded in agreement at Soy's statement. They could feel some benevolent power pulsating around the entire region. Soy continued,
"This is a combination of Licht and Aaron's powers. It is pure light. Our rivals possess just the opposite power; pure darkness. If they learn to control it better than us, we are sunk.
"It will be a long process, saving this planet and learning to use this power. But it must be done. If it is not, the universe is doomed."
Janeway looked at Brandon, then nodded to Soy. "Well, I think we should put you in charge then."
Soy gave a affirmative nod in return. "For sure, you two are my lieutenants. We will prevail. We must. Janeway, how much of your crew survived the crash?"
"About a quarter. Not good." Janeway sighed. "Even if we could fly them in the atmosphere, debris in the shuttle bay disabled all our shuttles. Voyager won't lift off for at least a year, and we don't know if we can keep our power running for that long."
Soy shrugged. "We will make do. We must. The light will guide us."
Brandon snorted. "It better be a hell of a good guide."
***
Schatten nodded in begrudging respect. "Quite the operation you have here. Using dead people as a power source...you'd do my father proud."
Korn smiled. "I can't mass enough energy or control to use it as a weapon...yet. But the spirits of the dead Borg should be able to power our base and feed you for quite a long time. Don't gorge yourself though."
"Right...it's not healthy," replied Schatten sarcastically. "Well, we've got the leaders but no army. What are we going to do for that?"
Korn frowned for a second. "I haven't decided yet what we're going to do for cannon fodder troops, for our #s are nowhere near Voyager's, but we should have some of our soon-to-be allies coming soon."
"Great...I hope you're a hell of a good negotiator," mumbled Schatten under his breath.
Korn looked at him in mild surprise. "Why, I'm not doing the negotiations. You are. It doesn't look good to have your lieutenant do everything for you."
Schatten stared at him in shock. "I can't negotiate!"
"You're going to have to."
Schatten growled and muttered, "Wonderful."
