Chapter 15 – New Plans

Blue alert was stood down and The Starfleet officers started to get to work fixing the ship. Diederick turned to Tuvok and ordered "Tuvok. Get Security to make a perimeter around Voyager. Take four shift patterns, first and second shifts will be those who completed the initial training course with myself. Have the others practice in the holodeck after they come off their initial shift, then rest the other two."

Tuvok looked over at Janeway and Chakotay for authorisation before they could give it the Sith spoke again "You're in charge of security, I'm sure you don't need their permission to do your job? Just because One said that there's nothing that could kill us down here doesn't mean that there's nothing here…" He stated warily Tuvok nodded slowly, seeing no error in logic and proceeded to make it happen. Harry then spoke up from Ops "I don't understand Darth if nothing can kill us, why the security?"

"You are fresh out of your academy, aren't you?" The Sith lightly mocked "Death is the end; you can't get any more final than that. I can think of thousands of ways to make you wish for death Mr Kim…" Diederick looked over at the Ensign, as their eyes met Diederick started using the force to trick the now a sickly pale looking Harry into a dream-like state where he was experiencing what the Sith was eluding to.

"If you're finished tormenting my crew Darth, I'd like my command codes back" Janeway quickly intervened causing the Sith to turn towards her and break the dream.

"As you wish…" He said and then commanded "Computer, start EMH program and display on the main bridge" as soon as he said that the Doctor popped into existence via one of the few working terminals.

"Please state the nature of the medical…" Doc started until he locked eyes with Diederick. There was a pause and then the hologram stated "Katherine Janeway is now medically and mentally fit to return to command. I hear by grant command back." Doc then turned to Janeway "Is that all or am I going to be forced to say something else? Or maybe do a little dance?" he asked incredulously.

Janeway look surprised at the scene but quickly pulled herself back together again "No, thank you Doctor. That will be all." Doc nodded and then deactivated his program.

"As promised Captain, the rescue is over, and you have your ship and crew back." Diederick smirked darkly and started to walk off the bridge "We all need to talk about what is going to happen next. I'm not going to make this a habit, you're all out of spare lives now, and we've got a long road ahead of us." the turbolift doors closed and he proceeded to meet up with Petra in the main Shuttle bay.

"Darth..." Petra greeted whilst using the force to move some oversized crates to the side then walking over to the Sith.

"We're leaving for a while. I'd imagine these guys will be busy and you still need training." The Sith smiled darkly which didn't bode well for the acolyte as they walked out of the hanger doors, into the harsh storm that surrounded the ship.

<Ruined City>

"War never really changes, does it?" Petra asked absentmindedly as they walked through the ruins of the mega city. Diederick looked around, it reminded him of his miserable time as an apprentice, doing grunt work for his old master on Dromund Kaas "It doesn't, if anything it spreads, like a tumour." He replied distractedly whilst gazing at the imposing ruins. Diederick smirked "OK Petra, here's a good enough spot."

"Won't I knock over buildings here?" She asked quaintly

"I think the owners won't mind." He chuckled darkly. "Besides, you're going to catch the building and rest it down gently if you do knock one over. I don't want any dust on me, radiation is a little hard to get out in the wash…"

Petra rolled her eyes at the statement and waited for her master to continue. "We will spar for a while; I want you to embrace the force and channel it through the emotions you're feeling to either defend or attack. That is going to give you the fundamentals to start to understand how this all works." Diederick took up a stance with his fists raised "Ready yourself." As soon as he finished, he threw a punch.

Petra was still processing the implications of her master's definition of a 'spar' to realise her connection to the force was screaming at her to move! When the punch connected with her stomach, it was as if she had all the air in her body ripped out of her as she flew, heavily landing several meters away. With her body aching, she wobbled to her feet and started to feel the force, the darkness called to her, mocked her for her naivety. Her master was not a pushover, he was not going to pull punches just because she had shown potential. She let the force re-energise her battered body and focused on her target who was closing in on her. Balling her hand into a fist she listened to the force and went on the attack.

She threw a punch that also transformed into a force blast, the shock wave nearly connected with the Sith, but he managed to sidestep and continue to close the gap "That's it! Keep going, follow the feeling!" The Sith commended as the gap was now closed and he punched Petra again in the gut, she flew another few meters only to land on her feet this time. Diederick smiled darkly, he might finally be able to let off some steam with this arrangement.

This continued for a few hours and although Petra was showing signs of improvement, she was still treated like a ragdoll… She did manage to retaliate a few times but that seemed to only take large holes out of the surrounding buildings as the Sith outclassed her in every sense of the word. By the time they finished she was black and blue again, but her eyes were more focused, and she was not as unsure of her powers and abilities anymore. It was as if something inside of her had finally clicked and she now needed to hone her skills to dive deeper into them. Diederick was pleased with this development, she was more like a new acolyte at the academy now, ready to be moulded to what he saw fit. She wasn't a ticking time bomb any longer, she could control herself and could now be of use to him. This is where she can start to earn her keep.

Walking back to Voyager Diederick spoke "Petra. Now that you're not going to kill yourself when you use your powers. You need to gain knowledge and you need to reflect on them in order to grow and move forward. Once you are at a satisfactory level, I'll have some tasks for you."

Petra looked over at the Sith "There is something I do want to know, before we begin Darth"

The Sith duo stopped where they were. The storm around them was raging around them, howling through the towering buildings.

"What is it?" Diederick asked.

"Why are we still hanging around on Voyager? With One and that other ship of yours, we can easily leave these people here and move on without worrying what these people are going to do next. From what I've seen, you and they have quite different ideologies."

"That individual, Q, that we met on the last planet. He or it, can match me to a stalemate. It also seems that Janeway was owed a favour by Q. So if we help them get back to their own people, Q will show me the way home." Diederick calmly stated. Petra looked shocked. "And you just believe him?"

"Of course not." Diederick raised an eyebrow, retorting back humorously. "But that also begs the question, what the hell did Janeway do to get someone on the level as Q to owe her one. Also, with Voyager being primarily a science ship, I should be able to find out where the Empire is eventually." Petra now had an idea where this plan was going and asked the obvious. "So, we're joining Starfleet?"

"In a manor of speaking, yes."

"You're going to take orders from Janeway and Chakotay?"

"It's her ship so we'd naturally follow her orders, Chakotay on the other hand…"

"So, what if she orders you to hand over One and the ship?"

This got a hearty laugh from the Sith. "She's not an idiot." He smiled viciously as his eyes turned a deeper shade of red.