Threw some technobabble here in the beginning section of the story.
Grak grumbled heavily as he slowly stroked his beard. He had his eyes on the warp core that was slowly rose up from the ejection hatch below. With the forcefield in place, there was no need to have main engineering empty. And he grumbled out of frustration because while the core did have the right dimensions as the core the Sovereign would be using, but some connections were a little off.
“Will it work?” Maxwell asked, who had been by Grak’s side, towering over him, as they watched the core.
Grak grumbled again while he continued the slow strokes of his beard. Every time he stroked his beard, he was deep in thought on formulating plans and ideas to make things work. In fact, he was so deep in thought, his subconscious had to remind him that the Captain had asked a question and eventually the question was repeated in his head. “Aye,” said Grak. “I will have to make some modifications, but it’ll do. Other issue is the matter and anti-matter. They’re from this universe with different quantum signatures. It shouldn’t matter but how do I put it…”
Grak then figured out how to explain. “It is safe to say that you and I both understand that we operate under a subtly different quantum harmonic.”
“Right,” said Maxwell who began to out it together. “Same with all of our systems and power grid. So if you were to hook the core in directly,”
“We run the risk of overloading those systems, or not providing the correct amount of power to run those systems.” Grak explained and went further. “My rommate back at the academy was a nut about electrical power grids way back then, so I am glad I listened than ignored. To put it plainly. Let say that our ship runs off of 120V AC electricity at 60hz, and we hooked up to a power generator that operates at 240V at 50hz. We plug our ship into that, and we would be blowing plasma conduits all over the ship.”
“So,” Maxwell began and now it sounded like he ran his own numbers. “We need some sort of inverter or regulator.”
“Yes!” Grak chuckled with enthusiasm. “More precisely, a quantum phase inverter.”
“How long will that take to make and install?” Maxwell asked.
Grak then sighed and returned to stroke his beard. “I have been thinking on that for a while. Give me a day or two, Captain. I will get this baby back at full power.”
“You do that, and I’ll buy you a drink.” Said Maxwell.
Grak chuckled. “I’ll take you up on that.”
“We are approaching the planetoid, Captain.” said Tagg.
It had been six days since they got the core from the Ronin. During that time, Grak, with the assistance of K’Roll, had manufactured and installed a quantum phase inverter to regulate the quantum harmonics. The ship was essentially at full power. Maxwell also knew that the magnetic interlocks did not have to be altered in any way. Since they were from this universe, along with the warp core and the matter/antimatter in the warp core, then the containment field from the interlocks would also be from this universe.
Once they were under their own main power, the Ronin had also provided them a large supply of deuterium from their own tanks, before they went to a near by supply station to refill. Nevertheless, once they were ready, they began their careful journey towards the Badlands. While they were able to fly as fast as they can towards the Badlands, they still did not want to pick up any unwanted attention. Fortunately, they were able to make it inside the Badlands before anyone noticed.
As for the traverse through the Badlands, Maxwell had to give all the credit to Tagg. The Badlands was no joke, in any universe. The massive plasma storms were one thing to avoid, but the plasma blasts, ionic discharges and gravitational anomalies were the other things to be careful of. A ship like the Sovereign could easily be destroyed if they were not careful enough.
“Then I suppose we wait,” said Maxwell. “Captain Harald had made it clear that he will do the talking with the leader of the rebellion.”
And they waited. And waited. Waited some more. It had been nearly twelve hours of constant patience for the Captain of the Ronin to contact them and tell them how the conversation went. If the meeting had still been going for this long, it could not be good at all. And they would be right.
“Incoming transmission from the Ronin, sir.” said the officer at the Comms. Once Maxwell gave the nod, the holographic projection of Captain Harald appeared in the center of the bridge, just a few feet before Maxwell.
“Let me guess. Good news with a lot of bad news.” Maxwell made the assumption while he clasped his hands together against his lower back.
“I am afraid it is all bad news, Captain.” Harald began. “The Changeling was incredibly displeased of the recent events. He knew that I had destroyed Hans’ ship and by bringing you here, he is afraid that we had brought doom on the entire rebellion. He has ordered a complete evacuation of the planetoid, where they will seek out a new base of operations.”
Maxwell made a face where he was not entirely surprised of the outcome. “Taking a bit rash, ain’t he?”
Harald sighed as he rubbed his hands together. “I understand his paranoia, really. The Imperium does not tolerate traitors of the kind. If they found the rebellion, they wouldn’t hesitate to torpedo the base. They would likely even use tricobalt devices to ensure complete destruction. No survivors. I just cannot believe that he thought he could still get to Hans to join our side. I kept telling him that the man would not switch. Even though Hans disagreed with the new Supreme Leader, he was still a patriot.”
Maxwell waved his hands. “All of this is mute, Captain Harald. How are we going to deal with the fleet guarding the wormhole?”
There was a pause for a moment and then Harald turned to look at someone. There was a muffled voice but apparently someone had given Harald an idea. Because the man turned back to face Maxwell and proposed an insane idea. “We were ejected out of the rebellion. Because of my recent transgressions, the leader does not trust me anymore. Which is fine and dandy, because I still intend on getting your ship home, one way or another.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” Maxwell asked him.
Harald paused for a moment with a long, cold stare at Maxwell before he answered. “We will engage the fleet on our own. And while they are distracted, you will make a run for the wormhole.”
Maxwell frowned. “Are you insane? You’d be destroyed, instantly.”
Harald then smirked. “Perhaps. But I know what my ship can do, Captain. This ship has been my home for the longest time. And my chief engineer informed me that our spinal mounts are fully operational again. Besides, I will have the advantage. The fleet will assume that I am rejoining them in the defense of the wormhole against the Dominion. But with their shields still down, I will unleash a full volley of the arsenal at my disposal and inflict as much damage as possible on the capital ships.” There was a look on Harald’s face that told Maxwell that the man was not telling him everything.
“We can assist in the surprise attack,” said Maxwell. “Just give us a moment to modify our IFF and we can come in at your side.”
Harald shook his head. “It won’t work. If your ship takes too much damage, you won’t be able to make it to the wormhole and make it back home.”
“But what you are proposing will get you and your entire crew killed!” Maxwell argued.
Harald nodded his head with a smile on his face. “Not entirely but yes. I asked the leader to remove me and my senior staff from the rebellion, but not my crew. They are loyal to me, but they also believe in the rebellion. The leader approved my request and I will have nothing more than a skeleton crew operating this warship.”
“There is nothing I can say to stop you? No other way to get my ship home?” Maxwell asked.
Harald shook his head once more. “I wish there was, Captain. You and your crew saw the data we sent over. The wormhole is the only way. It would take too long to mine the crystals you need to bring your quantum slipstream drive back online. Let alone to ensure that you get the correct discharge from the crystal embedded in your hull to propel your ship back to your universe via slipstream. No. Wormhole is the only way.”
“What about the Barzan Wormhole?” Maxwell asked.
“We eliminated the Barzan’s before they could create one.” Harald said with a saddened voice. “That was the Imperium’s mistake, and the rebellion’s regret. But we simply couldn’t let High Command or the Supreme Leader get their hands on that kind of technology.”
Maxwell sighed heavily as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then gave Harald one last look. “Then I guess we don’t have a choice. Do we?”
Harald smiled once more. “Afraid not, Captain. We should head for the outer edge of the Badlands, and from there, we will formulate a plan. And we will wait for the right moment of when the Wormhole is supposed to open. Ronin out.”
Maxwell noticed that Art had come up to his side. “They are really willing to sacrifice themselves for us.” Said Art. “I envy them.”
“He’s doing this to become a martyr for the rebellion.” Maxwell told Art. Then he turned his head to look at him dead in the eyes. “I hope, for this universe’s sake, he succeeds.”