something i really like about these is that usually the ideas come to me right before i go to sleep and evolve when im eating breakfast the next morning, just an interesting pattern i've noticed
anyway, today's crossover is star trek x transformers! now, i know IDW did this like 5 years ago, and i'm pretty sure i've even written an st x tf crossover, but i genuinely think that these two fit in the same universe. they just really work together imo
"Data, what planet is up ahead?" Capt. Picard asks as the Enterprise approaches the end of the breadcrumb trail they've followed for a few days.
"I am not certain, though it appears to be largely mechanical," the android replies. "Initiating scans."
"Captain!" Wesley on the other console alerts the crew of a Ferengi ship up ahead.
"Mr. Worf, open hailing frequencies, be ready to go to yellow alert," Picard commands.
With no hesitation or communication, the Ferengi ship begins to fire onto the Enterprise. The Enterprise shakes a bit with each impact.
"Shields up, go to yellow alert," Picard calls.
"Aye, sir," Worf replies.
"Sir...," Data and Wesley get the Captain's attention as a giant mechanical dragon throws itself onto the Ferengi ship. The Ferengi desperately try to fire at the dragon, but it attacks most of their weapon banks and bites off a massive chunk of their engine.
"What the hell is that?" Riker stands up and approaches Wesley's console.
"It appears to be a robotic dragon, sir," Data answers.
At some point, one of the Ferengi phaser banks aims at the dragon's shoulder and sends a perfect shot into it, seemingly with enough force to send it reeling back down towards the planet.
"Oh my god," Wesley mutters as the dragon's reeling also pushes the ship back.
"Could it be that that was what sent us on this breadcrumb trail?" Riker asks.
"Quite possibly, Commander," Data says. "I scanned the being, and the signals it gave off are the same as the one we have been following."
"Then we've gotta get down there. That thing just saved our asses."
Captain Picard calls for an away team of Riker, Dr. Crusher, Troi, Wesley, Data, and LaForge. They beam down onto the planet to find the massive dragon unconscious on the metal ground of the planet, the wound on its shoulder smoking and leaking a glowing blue liquid. The same liquid is slowly dripping out of its mouth and between vertebrae joints on its back.
"Jesus, this thing is huge," LaForge mutters as he runs his fingers over the metal plates.
"I'm sensing something very powerful from it," Troi moves close to the head, hesitantly resting her hand between the eyes.
"Interesting. It looks like metal, but my tricorder readings say that there is some actual tissue within it," Dr. Crusher says, scanning around the wound and chest.
"That's...because I...am an...organism," a coarse, deep voice hums.
"Will...," Troi slowly backs away from the head of the dragon as its eyes open.
...
Slowly, you lift your head up and look at the humans in front of you. You notice a certain logo on their uniforms that reminds you of your rescuers from a century ago.
"Star...fleet?" you force out. "...Pike?"
"Pike?" one in a red uniform asks. "Admiral Pike died twenty years ago."
"Did you lead us here?" one in a yellow uniform asks. Something about him is interesting.
"...Machine," you lower your head to look at him closer. "I am dying...I need help...Star..Fleet...helped me...once."
"Yes, I am an android," he answers.
"You're dying? You're mechanical," another with a visor over his eyes calls out.
"I can still...die," you hum. "I need...energon. I was already...dying. Now I...am closer to death. Your...ship has...energon," you try to explain. With each word you lose more energy. Your sight is slowly failing and the world around you is becoming blurry.
"What planet is this?" the android inquires.
"Cy...ber...tron."
"Commander, this is Y/n. About a hundred years ago, Captain Pike and his crew encountered a transforming mechanical dragon that called itself Y/n and saved it from its death by providing it with a segment of the warp core's dilithium crystal and the solute liquid. It claimed that its race called this 'energon'," the android explains.
You correct the android with your actual pronouns before confirming that the android is correct.
"I think much more is wrong than just needing energon," a woman in a blue uniform runs her hand over your wound. "Can you feel this?"
You wince in pain as her hand reaches into the gash.
"I guess that means you can," she nods.
"Is that why you called us here? You need the dili...energon?" the man in red asks, stalking toward your head.
"Yes..."
"Why did you attack the Ferengi ship?"
"They...shot...at you."
"Will, they're losing consciousness. We've got to get that crystal," the woman in blue declares as your vision falters again. You catch yourself as your head starts to fall again.
"Alright, Data. Let's go get it," the man with the visor tells the android. He taps the logo on his chest and says, "Enterprise, two to beam up."
You lower your head and slowly move your arm so the woman in blue could study your wound better.
"This...is not...how I im...agined...my death," you watch as a blurry vein of energon drips from your tongue.
"You're not going to die," the woman reassures. "LaForge and Data are amazing engineers, and I'm a good enough doctor to be able to help you. Deanna, can you still sense them?"
The heaviness behind your eyes increases its pressure. You can feel the energon leaking from the open cracks in your back.
"Their mind is experiencing great chaos, but I can feel little else," Troi hums.
"No no, stay awake," a younger guy in a gray uniform crouches down close to your head.
"Trying..."
"Come on, talk to me. I'm Wesley, that's my mom, Dr. Beverly Crusher. That's Commander Riker," he motions to each blurry figure. "That's counselor Troi."
"Mh-hm.."
"Lieutenant LaForge has the visor. Data is the android. How did you know he's an android, anyway?"
"I can...detect...his machinery. Like...how...I felt...the energon...on your ship."
"How did you find us anyway?" Riker kneels down next to Wesley.
"You...flew past me...recently. Don't rem...ember when."
"You're incredible," Dr. Crusher mutters. "Where did you come from?"
"Here."
"This wasteland?"
"...Yes. Hundreds...of..years...ago."
"No wonder you remember Captain Pike," Riker hums.
Just then, Data and LaForge beam back down onto, holding a glowing blue container and a few cases, presumable of tools or engineering equipment. They rush over to you, Data quickly opening the glowing container and holding it close to your wound.
"No...I eat...energon," you correct.
Data gives you a quizzical look before moving the container over to your head and holding it close to your mouth. As quickly as you can, you consume the crystal and the plasma fluid with it, then promptly pass out again.
...
Each member of the party takes a swift step back from the beast. Everyone is still for almost a minute.
"Deanna?" Dr. Crusher asks.
Before the counselor can approach the dragon, its whole body shakes before the metal plates begin to rearrange themselves. Each single part moves against the others until the dragon is reformed into a massive humanoid robot with winglike spines on its back, horns, and a long tail. The plates on the shoulder wound slowly begin to repair themselves and the eyes open again.
"Holy shit," Riker mutters.
"Thank you," you give a slight smile as you push yourself up off the ground.
"Pike's report did claim that you were able to transform. How did you get this ability?" Data asks.
"I was created with the ability to transform, but the Decepticons were the ones who made it so I could transform into a dragon specifically. I was engineered to be an especially strong fighter for the Decepticon cause...until I left," you explain, your voice clearer and smoother.
"You are magnificent," LaForge gapes.
"Thank you. I am indebted to you for your help."
"It's no problem, Y/n," Riker approaches you. "That's what we're around for."
The moment is interrupted by a small herd of Ferengi running at your group and immediately opening fire at you with their weapons. Without hesitation, you transform into your dragon form, now even bigger and more powerful. You slam your wings down around the Starfleet officers as shields before you breathe your frozen plasma onto the Ferengi. The few not caught in the freeze scuttle away, and you lift your wings and step away from the officers.
"Are you hurt?" Dr. Crusher looks over at your wings.
"Those shots barely itch, doctor. It's the weapons from the ship that were deadly, especially when I was already dying," you assure. "Who are they?"
"Those are the Ferengi," Riker explains. "You attacked their ship when they shot at us."
"They're ugly as hell," you comment as you transform back into robot mode.
"How did you...breathe that, though?" LaForge asks.
"It's a weapons feature when I have enough energon in my system," you reply.
"Fascinating," Data notes.
"I'll admit, I don't know very much about my own mechanics, which makes me especially fucked when I'm in a situation like I was where I was injured with no access to energon."
"At least you're alright now. Do you need anything else?" Riker inquires.
"I don't think so. I'm healthy as long as I can find energon."
"You know you can grab us if you ever need us."
"Thank you, sir. Likewise," you smile.
...
"We're outnumbered!" Worf calls as he becomes surrounded by the aliens. He knows that he's completely screwed if he can't get back to the others.
"Enterprise! 5 to beam up!" Riker yells into his communicator as he fires his phaser wherever he can. The aliens move so fast that he can hardly aim at them, let alone get a good hit on them.
The Enterprise signal is jammed.
Troi lets out a yelp as three of the aliens grabs her and pulls her off the scene.
"Deanna!" Riker yells.
Right before the away team loses hope, a dark shadow comes over them and blue and white blasts of freezing plasma fall from the sky.
"Oh, yes!" Wesley grins at the help as you land in the middle of the battlefield, immediately fighting off the aliens. Many of them freeze as soon as you breathe onto them, but the few that evade the plasma are impaled by your claws, bite, or horns. Your tail whips around to clear away a good amount of them.
"Get Deanna!" Riker calls to you. You look over to the shuttle where four aliens are restraining the counselor and nod at the command. You transform into your robot mode and flick the knife out from one of your wrists as you run over to the group, slashing at the aliens and pulling them off the counselor.
"Are you alright?" you ask her as you transform and let her onto your back.
"I knew I sensed you somewhere," she holds tightly onto you.
"I told you I'd be there if you ever needed me," you say before breathing your plasma onto a new battalion of aliens. "Where's the signal interruption coming from? Riker can't be beamed up."
"We don't know," Deanna replies. You rush back over to the others in the party and help them retreat into a forest.
"Thank you," Riker collapses against a tree as you transform into your bot mode and sit down.
"Of course. Anytime the Enterprise is sitting still I assume there's something going on," you reply.
"Have you seen us around?" Wesley asks.
"On occasion. I see you around every once in a while."
"It would have been nice to see you. We think about you a lot, you know," Troi informs.
"That never occurred to me, to be honest, but I'm glad you remember me," you give a slight smile. "Anyway, can you beam back up?"
"The signal's still jammed," Wesley replies.
"On which end?"
"Ours, I think. I'm pretty sure the disturbance is coming from that shuttle over there," the ensign points to the shuttle Troi was about to be carried into earlier.
You study the shuttle and the signals your optics can measure. "I wonder if I can counteract it." You tap the screen on your gauntlet and use it to scan the shuttle, immediately identifying the main computer in the system emitting an insane amount of radio disturbance.
"It'd be best to see if I can turn the signal off so you can all get out quietly," you mutter. "I think I can hack into it..." You enter a few commands which allow you some control over the shuttle. You mute the communication capacities and disable some scanners before it becomes clear that the aliens are aware of your activity.
"Shit. They found me out."
"It was working for a second! I could hear something. Can you keep trying?" Wesley asks, repeatedly tapping his communicator.
You nod, then continue entering small commands to sabotage the shuttle. You're able to force stop small controls, lights, scanners, climate controls, but the shuttle is still emitting radio waves.
"Maybe it's not the computer that's the source. Can you see anything else in it that could be generating them?" Riker inquires.
"I doubt it. I can see that it's the computer. I'm hesitant to mess with it more, though, since they know I'm messing with it. Fuck, I'm being scanned."
Within 30 seconds, a few bright orange blasts from the aliens' weapons come toward your group. You transform your gauntlet into a shield and protect the party from the blasts.
"Enterprise to Commander Riker. Can you hear me?" an English man's voice comes through the communicator.
You and Wesley make eye contact.
"I can, Captain," Riker replies.
"You're breaking up a bit, but I can hear you at last."
"Thanks to an old friend," Riker flashes you a smile. You return it before transforming your other hand into a blaster and fire a blast at the shuttle.
"Number One, what was that?"
"Just the old friend in question. Can we beam up?"
"You can! Five to beam up?" another voice comes through Riker's communicator.
"Six," the commander corrects.
"Hm?" you look over your shoulder. As you look over, the planet's ground disappears and is replaced with a cramped room. The room is replaced again with a spacier and more comfortable one where you're able to transform your hands back from their weapon forms and stand up.
The party from before rushes into the room, along with a new man in a red uniform.
"Welcome aboard, Y/n," he smiles. "I am Jean-Luc Picard, the captain of the Enterprise."
You get down onto one knee to face him better. "Honored to meet you, sir."
"The honor is all mine. I'm grateful that you have helped my crew."
"They saved me once, it's the least I can do to return the favor," you smile.
...
back on my bullshit