T'Pol was in a hallway of Enterprise. Weapons fire could be heard a short distance away. Suddenly, Lieutenant Reed ran into view. He stopped behind a structural support, fired two shots back around a corner, and continued down the hallway. Archer raced in from an adjoining passageway.
"Captain!" Malcolm called out as two Reptilian Xindi appeared at the end of the hallway.
Still running, Archer ducked as a red beam of light shot past, just narrowly missing his head. T'Pol gasped as the beams headed straight for her stomach. Shock registered on her face as the beams passed harmless through her. She turned in time to see them strike Malcolm full in the chest.
"No!" Archer shouted. As he dove to the deck he twisted to fire at the Xindi. T'Pol threw herself against the wall to avoid his tumbling body. Both of the Reptilians crumpled to the ground. But Archer did not give them, or her, a second look. Instead, he crawled the couple of feet to Malcolm's limp body. Archer searched desperately for a pulse, but there was none. Horror and pain cut across Archer's face, but he had time to bow his head only for a second.
"Captain, report to the bridge!" the intercom called. Archer leapt up and ran to a turbo lift.
The scene shifted to show Archer stepping out of the turbo lift onto the bridge.
"Report!" he demanded.
"There are four Reptilian warships approaching!" T'Pol watched herself scanning the monitors at her station.
"Evasive maneuvers! Hard to port!" Archer leaned over Mayweather's shoulder. The Enterprise rocked as shots from the Xindi ships found their mark.
"Fire phase cannons!" Archer ordered.
"Minimal damage to the Xindi ships!" reported Ensign Parker, who was at the tactical station.
Again Enterprise shook with weapons fire. Sparks were flying from panels.
"Aft shields are down to twenty percent!"
"Intruders have penetrated decks E and D!" said Hoshi, fear clearly in her voice.
"Photon torpedoes! Maximum yield!" Archer shouted.
"Shields on the enemy ships are at 80, 70, 100 and 100!" Ensign Parker reported.
Again Enterprise was shaken by direct hits.
"The starboard ncell is damaged!" Trip called up from Engineering.
"We have lost aft shields. The starboard shields are down to 40," T'Pol reported. "They are targeting the bridge!"
"Fire torpedoes!" Archer shouted again.
But before the command could be carried out, all four of the Xindi ships fired simultaneously on Enterprise. The bridge shook tremendously.
Hoshi flew backwards as her console erupted. She landed on her back with ugly black burns covering her face and hands. But no one moved to check on her. Everyone was working at their stations, desperately trying to counter the Xindi attack. T'Pol sensed that Hoshi was dead. Archer stared at her in shock.
Overhead there was another explosion. The ceiling of the bridge began to collapse.
"Get out of the way!" Archer shouted and started to dive towards Ensign Mayweather. But it was too late. A large part of the ceiling fell on him, crushing him to death. Archer stared at Mayweather's body in horror.
"Fire those damn torpedoes!" barked Archer.
"Weapons are off-line! I can't get them back!" panic was rising up in Ensign Parker's voice.
"We have lost all shields," the other T'Pol's voice was elevated with concern.
"T'Pol, transfer navigational controls to the weapons console!" Archer shouted.
He ran over to what had been Lieutenant Reed's station and roughly pushed Ensign Parker out of the seat.
"Trip, I'm going to need everything the impulse engines can give me!" Archer's fingers were flying over the console.
"Best you are going to get is one quarter impulse!" Trip's voice sounded ragged. Shouting and explosions could be heard in the background.
An alarm blared out. "All hands, this is Captain Archer, abandon ship. I repeat, get to the shuttle pods and abandon ship!"
Suddenly, the ship banked sharply to the left. The inertial dampeners were obviously failing.
Archer turned to Ensign Parker who staring in shock. "Get the hell out of here! Move it Ensign!" Archer barked.
Ensign Parker started, and then ran for the turbo lift. A tremendous explosion knocked him off his feet before he was halfway there.
"Captain! This is Engineering. Commander Tucker is dead!" an anonymous voice shook with fear.
Only a slight dip in Archer's head betrayed his reaction to the news. His jaw was set and his eyes were hard as he concentrated on his task.
T'Pol looked at the view screen. The image of Azati Prime filled the screen. The ship had turned towards the planet and was hurdling towards its surface. The Captain intended to ram Enterprise into the weapon!
Archer looked up from his console and scanned the room. It was deserted save for the other T'Pol.
"I told you to abandon ship! That's an order!"
The other T'Pol looked up from her console. Her face was set in a perfect Vulcan mask.
"No." Her voice was calm and quiet. She turned back to her console.
"T'Pol! This is no time for.." Archer was standing up and shouting. His voice shook with anger and concern, but the image on the view screen cut him off.
The ocean was boiling and churning. A few moments later the surface erupted in a tremendous geyser of water. The Xindi were launching the weapon! It was a horrific site to behold. Energy generators dotted its surface, glowing like the eyes of a giant insect searching for its prey. Enormous rings swept back and forth making its image appear to be continuously shifting. But size was its most daunting feature. It must have been a thousand times the diameter of the prototype. Like a small moon, it filled the entire view screen. And it was this size that was Archer's undoing. He had not counted on the Xindi launching at that very moment. He had not counted on the physical effects of such tremendous mass.
The shockwave hit them first. When such an enormous structure moves through the atmosphere so quickly, a great deal of air must be displaced. If Enterprise had been at full strength, it may have been able to plow through the wave. But in its weakened state, it was blown off course like a leaf in a hurricane. Then the wall of water over took them. The ship tumbled like a pebble on the beach. Over and over the ship turned. Archer flew through the air several times. Each time he landed heavily on some part of the bridge. The ceiling, a console, the wall.
Finally, mercifully, the ship stopped rolling. Archer was lying face down in a daze next to his command chair. He pushed himself up and gasped in pain as he found several broken ribs. He tried to pry his eyes open and found his left one blinded by blood streaming down the side of his face.
Scanning the room he saw T'Pol lying a few feet away. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced himself to crawl over to her. He gently turned her over and pulled her into his lap.
"T'Pol," he gasped.
Her eyes flickered open. An angry gash ran down the left side of her face. Blood was pooling in his lap, but he didn't notice.
"T'Pol," he pleaded.
Her lips worked soundless. Then finally he could make out a few words.
"..an honor to… and prosper…" Her eyes continue to stare at him after death. Archer hugged her to his chest as tears streamed down his face.
He looked up in time to see the weapon enter a vortex and wink out of sight.
The image of Archer cradling the other T'Pol on the devastated bridge melted out of view. It was replaced by a bridge several weeks later. The bodies were all gone. Some of the debris had been removed, but not all of it. It was obvious that very little repair work had been done.
Archer was the lone occupant. He sat in this command chair. His uniform was dirty and ripped in several places. His hair was ruffled and dusty, and he had several weeks of scraggly beard. He was slumped in his chair staring at the view screen. The expression on his face was that of a man who was utterly defeated. On the screen were the remains of the Earth. It was nothing but a field of debris. The silence of cold hard space filled the room.
Archer stood up and approached the screen, but stopped within arms length of it. He stared at the screen for several moments, taking in every detail. Pain and despair etched his face, but he had cried his last tear an eternity ago.
T'Pol stood on the bridge watching him. Her heart ached to see him in such a condition. She wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
But suddenly, Archer threw back his head and shouted.
"No! Stop it!" He whirled around and seemed to be staring directly at T'Pol.
"Why are you doing this to me?" he shouted at her, his voice laced with pain. Then he bowed his head and hugged himself.
"I couldn't help it! I couldn't let this happen!" He fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands.
"I had to take that warp drive. I had to kill those Xindi," he pleaded in a whisper.
Suddenly he jumped up and threw his hands up in the air.
"Get away from me!" The whole scene shook and jumped. T'Pol felt a great force hit her full on. Pain seared through her mind. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She struggled to breath.
Archer picked up a piece of debris and was smashing the consoles. He was yelling "No!" over and over.
Each time he stuck something, T'Pol felt like he was hitting her. Pain assaulted her from every direction. Just as she felt like she could not endure any more, she lost consciousness.