Space, the final frontier. Or is it? In a remote corner of the Alpha Quadrant, a new and unique project has been started. Here, in the distant Bel System we find a new type of star base, one unlike ever seen before. This star base, wielding the codename 'Maelstrom', utilizes the sun's power to create a rift in space, a vortex much alike a wormhole, for a brief period of time, allowing whatever passes through it to travel to any part of the galaxy, or even to distant galaxies. However when something goes wrong, the station and its crew accidentally get transported to a distant galaxy. These stories follow the adventures of its crew as they travel towards new destinations, meeting new friends and encountering new foes, hoping that their next teleportation will lead them home. These are the adventures of the Star Gate.
Main Characters
David Rolans:
Commanding Officer of the Maelstrom. A young terran StarFleet officer. Though still inexperienced at being in command, he is anything but naive.
Captain Black:
Originally assigned to guide Commander Rolans to the Maelstrom, Black turns out to be more than just an escort, always around to lend a helping hand.
Jagh Ramen:
A trill with an almost impossible tranquillity; Jagh is assigned as David's first officer and tries to perform that duty at his best ability.
Argol Manck:
A tall Cardassian with a grumpy attitude; Why exactly he got assigned to the Maelstorm is still a mystery, but he seems to do his job well so nobody's really complaining. Argol was in charge of station security, but had to stop doing that because he ascended into a higher level of consciousness.
Anya Maras:
A bajoran woman who mans the science station; her knowledge seems varied, and her social skills well developed, even though she can't stand Manck, for obvious reasons...
Daniel Jackson:
A human in his thirties in charge of engineering. His skills are average, but his ability to improvise more than makes up for it, and he's one of the people who helped constructing the Central Reactor and one of the few who understands it fully.
Doctor Ragg:
A Ferengi as cowardly as they come, yet Ragg's medical skills and techniques rank among the finest in medical circles.
Tal Rehu:
Romulan spy responsible for the accident on the Maelstrom's first mission, causing it to get lost in space; was imprisoned in the brig but has managed to escape captivity recently after an uncontrolled 'teleport'.
Gary Samdar:
An alien from a planet of which the location name aren't entirely clear yet; he looks surprisingly human and was tricked by Tal Rehu to help take over the Maelstrom. He has the ability to use what he calls magic.
Summary
David Rolans, a young StarFleet officer, has recently been promoted to command the star base that goes by the codename of "Maelstrom", a starbase that is equipped with a unique and experimental generator capable of opening a stable wormhole.
The freshly appointed commander and his new staff are faced with several problems shortly after Rolans' arrival, but all of these turn out to be childsplay when the Maelstrom's first mission goes horribly out of hand... A Romulan intruder manages to sabotage the station, causing an overload in the main reactor, resulting in the entire station being transported to a new, unknown destination, in a completely different galaxy.
Their unplanned jump has them wind up near a pre-warp M-class planet, inhabited by a civilization roughly comparable to medieval earth. On the same planet they also met a strange being from an advance civilization, one that in appearance looks lot like The Devil.
After a short dialogue, two Extras getting disintegrated and the crew's upsetting of an entire planet's destiny by blowing their god to bits, the crew returns to the Maelstrom just in time to see the devil-like creature's ship disappear completely...
With no way of getting home, the crew decides to take a risk - an uncontrolled jump without knowing where they would appear, with the possibility of materializing inside a planet or even a star.
While the first jump got them nearly colliding with an M-Class planet, then dragged off into an unknown dimension -at which point Argol Manck ascended into a superior being- and left with one extra alien, Gary Samdar, the crew takes the bold risk of jumping again...
Project Star Gate --- Chapter XII --- ' Dominion '
There was a tense atmosphere in the command room of the starbase Maelstrom. All stations were manned and all eyes were focused on the main screen which showed the coldness of space which was empty except for a few stars and a lonely planet in the distance.
"Main reactor at 98% of maximum efficiency," Daniel Jackson reported through the station's intercom system, "All systems are fully operational. Ready to proceed, commander."
The commander of the Maelstrom, David Rolans stared at the bald figure of Captain Black. Black had accompanied the young officer to the Maelstrom and had since been an unwilling passenger, dragged along as they got lost in space, thanks to the sabotage of the romulan spy Tal Rehu. Ever since, Black had proven to be a valuable asset to the Maelstrom crew, offering advice when needed and even when it wasn't needed. Right now, Black replied to his stare with a nod. "go for it."
"Very well then, no time like the present," David decided, folding his hands, "Power up the gateway sequence. And keep your fingers crossed."
"Gateway sequence initiated," Anya reported, "Instant transmission in three...two..."
Flash.
"...three," she continued, after the Maelstrom had successfully continued jumping to another area of space.
"It seems your timing is a bit off," David commented, "What happened?"
"Nothing," the Bajoran replied, "According to these readings we shouldn't have teleported yet; it's as if the generator is suspended in time and space somehow."
"But how ? And then why did we just shift..?"
"That would be my doing," the apple in the middle of the command room replied.
Commander Rolans gazed at the piece of fruit, then at the viewing screen. It was black, there was nothing out there; he recognized the piece of fruit as one of the omnipotent beings that had visited the Maelstrom not too long ago. Those beings had declared that they considered his security officer, the Cardassian Argol Manck as a great being among mortals and worthy of ascension; it was then that Argol too ascended into a higher being and was never heard from
again. Until now.
For next to the apple, Argol Manck materialized out of nowhere, once again in his mortal form, looking utterly cranky.
"What... is the meaning of this..?" David finally uttered.
"We chose Argol Manck to became one of us because we saw in him great potential and wisdom," the apple explained, then continued at sneery voice: "It would seem even omnipotent beings make mistakes sometimes."
And then the apple and the void disappeared, taking the space station back to where it was before their interruption: one second before instant transmission.
A blinding flash filled the command room next, as the station was transported across the universe towards a new destination. The light fadded and a starry sky was visible once again; apparantly, the Maelstrom had not materialized inside a star or planet; they had been fortunate.
"Status report!" David demanded immediately.
"All systems still functioning," Anya reported, "Scanners are scanning to determine our location if possible; incoming ships on long range sensor. Oh dear..."
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Those incoming ships... They're Dominion vessels, sir! We're right in the middle of the gamma quadrant!"
That anouncement was enough to get everybody alert again. "How many?" David finally asked.
"I'm counting four...no five ships; the first will reach us in less than five minutes."
"Weapons?"
"Already charging," the now unascended Argol Manck said while he took his station as if nothing had happened at all, "Just say the word and they're space dust."
"The word," Ragg squeaked. Argol fired a burst of torpedoes. Neither of them hit anything, given their targets were far out of range.
It didn't take long for the Jem'Hadar on the Dominion ships to overtake the Maelstrom and imprison its crew. Following the quick boarding, a Vorta beamed on board, inspecting its new prize. And after having done so, he had Commander Rolans sent to the now empty command room so he could inspect his new prize's CO. For a while neither human nor Vorta spoke a single word, simply staring at each
other, trying to guess each other's thoughts. Finally, David was the one to
break the silence: "You won't succeed, you know."
The Vorta started ranting at that point, but ignored his words: "I am the Vorta Elbion XXI. I've overseen the conquest of dozens of worlds, I've devestated entire armadas of starships, I was there during the dominion war. Your little space station is nothing to me."
"Elbion XXI?" David replied, ignoring the Vorta's boasts completely as well, "That's quite the amount of incarnations."
Elbion snorted. "I am proud to have given my life for the Founders so many times!"
"There probably isn't an insurance company in the universe that would accept a Vorta client."
"Perhaps, but the Founders offer a good dental care plan," Elbion retorted.
The lights flickered for a moment and then the power went out completely, leaving the two of them in the dark for a few short moments until the backup generators kicked in. "What in blazes was that?" Elbion demanded.
"That would be our Romulan spy, Tal Rehu, escaping from the brig, and attempting to either take over this station or destroy it."
