Well, turns out I have to follow "the chain of command" and do what I'm told anyway. So Garry actually does something useful for a change and finds several data entries for research stations nearby, which we dutifully head off to investigate.
The first is a big satellite.
The second is an even bigger satellite!
Reggie and Garry did their science type stuff and their analysis showed two main areas of research that the Klingons were trying to pin down. Time travel was one and DNA research the other. Like tell us something we didn't already know!
On our way out of the system we destroyed a couple of Klingon Bird of Prey ships. Dwight recognised their locations as being evidence of a search. With some rejiggering of the sensoromatic guidalance controls we pumped enough energy into the sensors to locate a Runabout in the midst of some wreckage. One weak life sign was all that was detected on board.
Dwight beamed the survivor to sickbay and used her medical know-how to bring him back enough for him to say one word... Kirk... before falling unconscious.
The only Kirk of any note in the present time was the U.S.S. Kirk, we messaged Starfleet, they'd lost communication with the Kirk only hours before, and told us their last location with orders to get there on the double.
We warped there as quickly as we could, and found the Kirk under attack. Systems disabled, the Klingons weren't destroying it, Anthi noticed that there were an unusually large number of Klingon life signs on the ship. We quickly took out some small Klingon ships, but the larger ship cloaked before we could torpedo it.
Although they were venting plasma from a nasty disruptor scar on the port nacelle, we beamed over to see if we could decrease the number of Klingon life signs on board.
Sure, I took this image while incapacitated, but I was distracted by the tribble in my pocket.
On board the Kirk we found many Klingons, we reduced their numbers dutifully. You may notice Anthi with her tribble. My tribble has somewhat reproduced and apparently Anthi noticed and took it before I could beam it into space. Thirty seconds before this image Anthi had vaporised a Klingon Munitions Officer with her disruptor pistol while yelling Andorian obscenities. She's a complex one. When I raised an eyebrow at her tribble she glared at me and put one hand on the pistol. I think I'll let her keep it.
We arrive on the bridge in time to see Michel Paris (half Klingon, half Human) being kidnapped by a masked Klingon. They beam out and a quick check of the computer banks shows that they downloaded data on the Guardian of Forever. Yes, the City on the Edge of Forever has been a quarantine zone ever since it was discovered. It would allow time travel. Uh oh. Garry confirms from on the bridge of the Resolution that the big Klingon ship decloaked long enough to accept a transport of two life signs from the Kirk before it sped away.
We left a few of our engineers and spare parts to get the Kirk back in order and made maximum warp for time travel central.
We get there just in time to see them jump through the portal, naturally we decide to follow, the fate of the Federation in our capable hands!
Also in Reggie's hands seems to be another tribble. Perhaps keeping mine was not the best idea in the world. A quick glance at Anthi confirms that her tribble has propogated. Reggie argues to keep it, given that I've let Anthi keep hers and have one myself. Yes. This is what we talked about before going back in time.
We appear back just in time to see several old style Klingon D-7 ships assaulting an old Constitution class starship. The Klingon's are no match for our technology, except for a now familiar looking Battlecruiser. We beat it down and, of course, it cloaks and runs away again.
Raising audio only to the Constitution ship, to minimise any pollution of the time-space continuum (after blowing up several vessels in an advanced ship from the future) we speak to a Mr. Spock.
Turns out it's the Enterprise! We keep conversation to an absolute minimum, but he gives us the co-ordinates for the vector the ships had attacked from. We track down the Klingon Battlecruiser and finally with some clever targeting from Tommy and Anthi we disable the engines and beam on board. The Klingons on this ship have smooth foreheads and look kinda wussy, but they still put up a good fight!
Combat takes a toll on us all, we have to take a breather or two.
And yes, now Tommy has a tribble too. We will have to discuss this at some stage.
Eventually we work our way to the bridge. I sit down for just a minute. There's just something about these Klingon ships. They make you feel like you could take on the universe. Rule with an iron fist. Anthi threatens me with her fist to get a move on.
The man in the corner there is the captain of the vessel. We have a short "discussion". He is confused by the "Klingon" from the future, he's injected the crew with a DNA serum. Some of them have begun showing aggressive tendencies previously associated with the Gorn, brow ridges on their foreheads and very fuzzy facial hair. Uh oh. Apparently here in the past Klingons are fairly peaceful, flat headed, bald guys.
He seems like a nice enough guy, and points us towards the evil time travelling Klingon for an easy bargain. It takes me an hour or two, but eventually I modify their transporter array so that it's red and sparkly instead of the standard blue. He thinks it fits the starship decor far more nicely.
Something like that can't possibly screw up the space-time continuum too much. Well, in any case, it's worth it to finally corner the evil Klingon Superboss who has been causing so much trouble!
Ms. Paris decides to stay in the past to try and best work with the new breed of Klingon to emphasise peace and counteract the aggression that has been introduced into their DNA. She also has advanced shaving technology from the future that might eliminate some of the tribble fluff. Nothing she can think of to help with the excessive forehead bony structures though.
Job well done, we have saved the future!
Great, now Dwight has a tribble. I put my foot down and make everybody leave their tribbles behind on the Klingon vessel.
We head back to the City on the Edge of Forever and make the jump back to our own time. Job well done. We stopped the Klingons from changing the past. Except for some minor things that won't be noticed, for sure. Like saving the Enterprise, destroying Klingons, changing transporter colours, leaving behind DNA augmented Klingons, a Federation officer, tribbles and advanced shaving technology.
I also can't help but notice a new entry in the historical database.
All in all a good day. We are now on course for Starbase Earth, Reggie and Dwight think that they can probably hack into the central computer to help avoid the historical database entry from reflecting poorly on my record.
Sparky... out.
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