Hey ho. Sorry the prologue is a bit short, but I'll be sure to have more elaboration, details, and WORDS in general in these next chapters. No promises though, I'm trying.

Captain's log, Stardate 345000.3. Upon new orders we have been headed to planet Origae-6 for the past 2 solar days. We should be reaching our destination within the hour.

Stepping out of the Turbolift, Kirk ambled over to Spock from the lower part of the bridge. From there he leaned on the red railing that surrounded the interior of the lower layer. "Mister Spock"

"Yes Captain?"

"Report."

"We will approach Orgae-6 in 15.649 minutes…" His voice trailed off, "...curious."

"Hmm?"

"There is another planet even closer to our current location, also class M. It seems to have traces of an unknown organism."

"Put it on screen."

"Onscreen-now."

The largest panel in the front of the bridge showed the image of a planet, masses of white cloud in cyclones gripped the planet but underneath revealed the cobalt bodies of water and blends of shamrock and viridian. Two moons in steady orbit around it giving the planet the look of the Chadwick atom model.

"Magnification 12."

"Magnification 12." Sulu echoed as he completed the transition.

"Fascinating." A voice came from the side of the bridge.

"Yes Mr Spock?" Kirk replied to him ardently. Afterall, he was expecting the word sooner or later.

"The planet registers a strange biological trace being emitted from that planet-"

"And?"

"And no other animal lifeforms, all vegetation."

"An invasive species."

"Possibly, Captain."

Chekov was conversing with Mr Sulu while the rest of the bridge was paying them no mind. "Vat do you zink of zees Sulu, eet eez wery strange zee Federation vould not bother looking at zees planet till now."

"I agree, but that doesn't seem to be that which is bothering me about this whole mission," Sulu told him. "How about why there was a cut off in communication from the Covenant in so long?" By then, Chekov's attention was somewhere else, the large screen focused on the planet. His eyes were squinting. Sulu decided to follow his gaze and look too.

"Vat eez zat?" Chekov announced his query. Kirk turned his attention the the screen. What Mr Chekov?"

"Zat little golden spot on zee screen." He got up and pointed to the pixels that made up the position he was referencing.

Spock looked up from his scanner "It could seem to identify as made of material similar to that of an alloy of copper, chromium, and titanium as well as the combination of steel. This is only it's comparison to material terms that are known to us, however, this substance is completely foreign."

"Well," Kirk said, "we are very near Origae-6 and exploration of this very close planet could prove beneficial." He pushed the PA on the arm of the chair. The button responding with a satisfying click. "Ensign Mcanally, Xenobiologist Carson, Lieutenant Allen, and Doctor McCoy, report to the transporter room." He turned to the Vulcan, "Come with me Mister Spock, Mister Chekov, we have an unidentified metallic object to investigate."

He started for the turbolift and Spock trailed behind him. Chekov cast a nervous glance at Sulu, who shrugged. "You did point it out, you know." Chekov nodded. Usually away mission were not safe-actually they never were-but he nodded at Sulu and hastily entered the turbolift with the Captain and XO. Not before double checking the color of his shirt, though, just in case.

Chekov felt the minute draft as the sliding doors of the transporter room closed behind him. He took a pad beside Spock, who was waiting as Kirk talked with Scotty. The entrance opened and closed again, allowing the presence of Bones, two men, and a woman. "We are a bit early to be at Origae-6 already, are we not Captain?"

It was lieutenant Allen, a woman of 32 years. She wore her dark hair in a loose braid, tied with a ruby band that complimented the color of her uniform. Her skin tone was a darker tan and though she was only 5'5 she spoke firmly with confidence, slight confusion mixed with curiosity were laced in her tone.

"Quite correct, Lieutenant, we are currently in orbit of neighboring planet." It was Spock who answered her first. Kirk moved to one of the pads as did the four new arrivals. "There are two interesting factors about this planet, a singular life form than greenery and what appears to be a structure out of place." Kirk added, "we will investigate the two before we continue to Origae-6. Scotty, energize."

"Aye sir."

Within seconds they were standing in forest. A fast flowing stream indicated a body of water nearby and and a small opening in th canopy yielded the sight of blue skies."Very beautiful I do have to say, Jim, I could see myself having shore leave on a planet like this." Bones mused, his southern accent coming through loud and clear. "Maybe some other time Bones," Kirk apologized, "for now, we should see to what we came here for. Allen, Carson, Mcanally, and Chekov survey the terrain for signs animal life, Spock, Bones, and I will explore the-" he stopped for a second, "article?" he tried. "Acknowledged sir." Carson spoke as they departed.

"It is difficult to describe the unknown, Captain." Spock looked at him.

"Exactly why we should find out." Jim told him.

"I vote croissant."

Jim and Spock turned simultaneously to Bones. "Croissant. The bread configuration and pastry of French origin Doctor?" Spock inquired, one of his eyebrows risen.

"Well, Chekov described its shape as something like such, it seems logical-he glanced at Spock-we give this thing a name until we know what it actually is."

"Doctor, naming an alien structure after an earth food is not logical."

Jim smiled. "Croissant it is then. I guess it did look something like such from above."

Spock's other eyebrow shot up as he turned to Kirk incredulously. Humans.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Chekov sauntered through the shrubs. They were everywhere and really squishy. There wasn't anything bad about this place-NO. He told himself firmly. Eet LOOKS like zhere's nothing vrong vith zees place. Eet alvays does. Looking around, there was a peculiarly palpable amount of umber-hued clusters. They seemed to be comprised of what looked like earth coconuts. Huh. He huffed. "Hey, Mcanally, have you seen zese things?" He gestured to the coconut impersonators. "Yeah, I seem em. They're EVERYWHERE." Mcanally responded and took out his tricorder. "It appears that there is a high concentration of that living stuff the Captain was talking about coming from these." He said.A small yelp came from farther ahead, where Ensign Carson had just tipped. "Keep looking at zis, I vill help him." Chekov told him and jogged off.

Mcanally bent over to closer examine the growth. There was a small mouth about the top, he raised his hand to touch it. It moved. He gasped and retracted his limb so fast-too fast-his hand smashed into his nose, knocking his off balanced from the kneeling position he was in. With a thud, he landed hard on his back. Hands on nose and winded, Mcanally turned on his side and opened his eyes. He took his hands off his face and flipped himself over so that he was on his hands and kees overlooking another one of the clusters. The top of this one moved as well, also ejecting black particles from it-which when right up his nose as he was catching his breath.

Allen cast a shadow over Mcanally as she stoop over his kneeling form. "You okay there?" She asked as she extended her hand to help him up. "Wha? Oh, yeah, yeah. Thanks." He took her hand and then made a scrunched face. "Mcanally?"

"I'm fine," He told her, "I was about the sneeze. Never actually happened."

She chuckled. "We should collect with Chekov and Carson to see what we found."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Spock pressed his hands against the uneven wall of the interior. The material making the walls was ductile and pulled into large wires he would say that wove together to create the walls. Through small holes he could see that the walls were also layered to be airtight… He walked up to join where Kirk and McCoy were venturing through the halls. "These patterns that make up that wall are a fascinating variety of tessellations but don't seem to serve any structural benefits."

"There's always aesthetics, Spock, it's pleasing to the eye." McCoy's voice curtly replied; it echoed through the corridor.

"That is assuming those built this had eyes, Doctor, I-" He was cut off by a voice from an opening to their left.

"They had eyes alright."

Spock opened his mouth to inquire how Jim new this but closed it quickly when he saw what he was standing in front of; a mountain of humanoid bodies, they all appeared to be diseased and much larger than the average human beyond doubt. He estimated at least 3 or 4 times the size by the one stretched out across the bottom and his captain, who was standing next to it.

The bodies were comprised of charcoal, onyx, and iron in hue, their cranial constituent looking most definitely human as well as the placement of the eyes and cheek structure but unlike the human race, their faces came into a tube resembling the front of a prehistoric earth macrauchenia, from the last ice age. The small trunk also went through the face and into the chest where an external rib cage was located. "Interesting." He murmured to himself quietly and then turned to see another passage. Spock looked back around at Jim and McCoy, who were conversing about something riveting from the looks of it, before heading into the darkness.

McCoy had strolled over to where Kirk was looking at the face of one of the creatures. "They don't even seem real." he said at his approach. "Well I can tell you for sure, they're dead Jim." Kirk looked up at him, a smirk written on his face, "Wow, Bones, I had no idea."

"Well how about it, though, look at the ribs in the front."

"What about them?"

"The way they connect into the body-they can't be ribs."

"This is an alien species, Bones, however humanoid it appears."

"But that's just it Jim, there are some things that just don't occur naturally no matter what planet your on, and the way they are twisted into the beginnings of the legs, around and into the body, I don't even know. Something's just telling me that is not a natural pattern."

"What did Spock say?"

"Speaking of which, where'd Spock venture off to?"

"Spock?" Kirk called out. "Spock?!"

"I am presently right behind you Captain."

Kirk spun around to face his XO, all his nerves were tingling. "Geez! Don't do that."

"My condolences, but there is something else I suspected about this place and it seems my theory was correct."

"And what may that be?" Bones had walked up to them.

Spock looked at the doctor and then backed to Jim. "The walls, they were made to be airtight."

"A ship."

Bones crossed his arms. "What confirmed your ideas?"

"While you and the Captain were discussing the creatures I explored a portion of this hall," he gestured to the dark separation in the wall, "It is narrow and crepuscular to begin, however, widens into a chamber that is rather remarkable."

Kirk extended his arm to motion him forward. "In that case, lead the way."

ooo000OOO000ooo

Timothy Carson, a xenobiologist of 46, was third in line. Leading the way was Kayla Allen, alongside Pavel Chekov. Behind him trudged Dean Mcanally at the rear. They had collected several readings, including confirmation of the origin or the biotic-but not botanical-trace. For now, they were heading towards the alien structure to join the Captain, XO, and CMO. He heard Mcanally grumble from behind him. "I stepped on another one." Carson almost tripped, himself, due to a vine underneath him. "I feel ya, standard issue boots are good for a lot of terrain but not intense greenery."

"That's for sure." Mcanally agreed.

"You guyz are een luck, because zhere eez a clearing behind zee structure." A Russian accent informed them from ahead.

A few more meters and they'd all stepped into the clearing. It was mostly level but had some cavities due to the slabs that jutted out and eroded the ones underneath them. She didn't say anything, but Allen was also relieved that they were out of the woods-both figuratively and literally. What none of them were expecting, though, was the pompeii-death scene that greeted there arrival. She halted abruptly and an unsuspecting Chekov crashed into her from behind.

A small gasp escaped her lungs as she tripped onto on of the hundreds of ashen figures that stood like a wax museum exhibit. She felt the crackling dryness of the dead flesh on the corpse against her face. Simultaneously the arid stench of the corpse assaulted her senses as well. In a reflex panic, she pushed outward to get off the disfigured carcass, it was more brittle than she estimated; the result of this action was the arm and head snapping off. Disgusted, she jumped up, swung her legs under her, and stood. A crack sounded under foot and she looked down to see a flurry of ash cloud her face. The ribcage, she surmised, had broken under her weight and the powder left of what might have been lungs was disturbed. She coughed, the remnants were stingings her sinuses, so she retreated towards the group.

Chekov stared at the ghastly crowd that surrounded the place. Humanoid figures of all sizes wore the uniformed look of distress and confusion as a death mask. The was lost in disbelief till the sound of coughing brought him to to his senses. Lieutenant Allen was coming towards them with one of her arms covering her mouth. She was painted with dark black spots, streaks, and patches that gave her the appearance of a coal miner."Vat happened?"

"I wasn't paying attention and accidentally mutilated one of them." She answered honestly.

He peered over her shoulder to the crushed one. "Zat one?" He pointed.

"Yes."

" place is creepy." Carson commented from the back.

"We should get through it hastily then." She answered. Personally, she had no desire to stay.

They were about 20 meters from the structure when Mcanally noticed a shape in the mountainous rocks surrounding the clearing. "Hey Carson," he ventured for his attention, "I'm debating whether I'm just homesick for a city or those actually looks like skyrises over there."

Carson looked for a second and cocked his head. "I'm not sure skyrise is the name I'd use to describe them but they definitely are multileveled buildings."

"So it's not just me then."

"Sure, I mean, obviously? Since I'm seeing it too?"

"There's always the placebo effect!"

"MCANALLY! CARSON!"

Both their attentions snapped to Allen, who was at an break in the object. "Zhere eez a break een zees zat ve can go through to zee front vhere ve beamed down!" Chekov hollered to them subsequently. Exchanging a quick glance they took off to catch up them and entered in a line the structure.

ooo000OOO000ooo

McCoy was close behind Jim, who was following Spock through the tunnel. He spread out his hands, the walls were starting to widen as they proceeded, he could longer feel the, at either side of him. "What is this exactly you are showing us?" He questioned irritably that this creep destination had to be so dark. The atmosphere around them was very moist-perfect. He thought. Who knows what kind of mold could be growing here-and how much of that is PoIsOnOuS.

"We are entering right as I speak, Doctor." Spock's passive reply echoed as the passage opened into a large chamber. "My gosh." Kirk said. There were many seats at different angles built into a large circle. In the center was a revolving-but currently stationary-chair with a weapon of some sort attached to it. He looked down and around the place, there were levers and buttons scattering the surface they were walking on. A table maybe? Station? The sound of a small click interrupted his thoughts. He picked up his boot to see one of the buttons pushed in. He looked up, both Spock and Kirk had as well. Bones surveyed their surroundings fast, hopeful he hadn't triggered anything. Nothing, but his sigh of relief betrayed him and turned into a choking splutter when he saw a white creature walking through the way they'd come in-also their only way out.

Eyes widened we whispered slowly "Jim?"

"What Bones?" He cocked his head when he saw the look on his face. "Bones?"

"Captain," Spock breathed and quickly grabbed his phaser. With this, Kirk did too. Slowly making a 180 he saw a figure coming in his direction. He aimed to fire but it didn't seem to mind him, or his weapon, coming along on its course. It didn't stop even when it passed right through him. "A hologram?"

"I would believe so." Spock answered. "And it's not alone."

Kirk turned towards where the first one had come from, four more holographs passed through him. A last one trailed slowly behind them, his expression on of fear. "What is she afraid of?"

"Unknown, Captain, but the rest of the recording should inform us."

And so it did. Kirk watched in as the people-they looked human enough-awoke one of the giant humanoids. This one lad a completely white face that was entirely human.

"What we saw was armor." Kirk stated.

"I just knew something was off about their structured exoskeleton to be natural!" McCoy exclaimed triumphantly. "Ha!"

The continuing recorded scenes displayed an older person in front, he turned to a younger blonde man beside him and nodded. The younger man nodded back and commenced to talk communicate with the being. His perspective of the replay was one of curiosity but his nerves froze when he saw the being grab the blonde man by the neck and twist violently. A snap would have been audible if there were sound as it yanked his head off, his spine coming out with it and trailing a yellowish liquid with threads. One of the people took the projectile weapon-it resembled an early model of the phaser rifle-and fired it. Both hit the figure in the shoulder but had no effect. In effect, the white giant pushed a woman in front of it clear across the room, walking towards he who shot it. He smashed him to the ground and picked up his broken body. No effort was required for it to through his form to the opposite wall where it jolted in response and fell in and crumpled heap on the floor. The only one left was the woman who'd entered last, fear written in her featured before they'd even woken up the killer.

"The one who ran…" Kirk started.

"Dr. Elizabeth Shaw." Spock finished for him and handed him a laminated card, her ID. "I discovered this when I first ventured in here." He explained.

"I wonder if she got out." Bones suggested.

"We follow then." Kirk waved his hand to gestured them forward, he took a step and heard the click of another button. The hologram was now in a sort of time lapse mode, Shaw did come back and pick up the android head from the ground. In the next few seconds she returned and sat in the chair, working out some of the buttons. A man walked up to her and spoke to her, inaudibly to them. She got up and they started heading or the door. "Come on!" Kirk called and ran after Dr. Shaw and then android. He heard the clicking of his XO and CMO running behind him. They trailed after the holograms till they came to a new room altogether.

Kirk looked at the face of the man. "He's the one… his head was pulled out."

"Android," It was Dr. McCoy that spoke., "the treads that came out with his spine where manufactured and the way his head was twisted off, not human."

"It sure seems to have the emotions of one anyway." Kirk pointed to the android as it angrily raised it's arms and destroyed a piece of furnishing adjacent to an elevated platform. Shaw, who was sitting on the platform flinched and turned to him. Her trembling lips spoke with defiance. There wasn't any sound but her read what he could from her lips: "City...capsules…" He looked to the man's mouth. "Them… made… kill us…" Shaw's face hardened in masked fear but her eyes betrayed her, showing the deep glazed look of realization. "No." The man whipped around fast and seized her neck, his firm grip pushed her from her sitting position to an askew angle on her back. She struggled as he kept his grip on her. Gasping and flailing she kicked his shoulder as her bent under the table. The sides came down far but left a gaping dark hole at the base. His arm free was scouting it then stopped abruptly, it found something.

Shaw inhaled a sharp breath, her breathing still uneven and lept from the table over the crouched man, her heading: the only way in and the only way out. The man's free hand shot up and he wrapped his fingers firmly around her ankle. His precise timing synced with the fluid motion of his joints retracting, forcing her on the ground. Dazed, she'd look up to see that the man had turned to be looking over her, he grabbed her by the neck of her shirt and dumped her back on the table. She wasn't giving up yet but he chances were hopeless, her face of horror turned somber as he raised a green, multi legged creature to her would become her death mask.

The recording ended and left the real body of Dr. Shaw in the wake of the holographic one. Her body was still very well preserved despite the age of her now, Kirk guessed some form of preservatives, and her entrails were spilled out all around her. Much of her ribcage had been severed and placed carefully on the shelves beside her and her skin was torn; resting on her body with the muscle and blood vessels underneath the hypodermis exposed.

"What happened?" Kirk asked gravely.

"No," McCoy breathed, "we know what happened, the question is: what came out of her? he pointed to her broken body.

"Most interesting." Bones shifted his position to look at Spock who was standing near the entrance. His hands were held behind his back and he was gazing at the collective sketches on the wall. There were also many organisms that had been preserved and where lined up.

"Spock, this woman is dead-" He started, a metal rod had dropped and clattered to the floor. He jumped. "I swear this place is giving me the creeps. Who was that sick maniac? All my nerves are completely on end." He moved closer to Jim and Spock, both now hovering over Shaw's corpse. "I wonder more and more just how deserted this place is. I-"

Spock shushed him. They all froze and hear the scuttling of footsteps behind them, a small voice spoke; "Hello?"

All three of them whipped out their phasers and pointed them at the entrance behind them. "Oh, golly-" Carson, who was at the front backed up, Allen, Mcanally and Chekov around him. He looked from their phasers pointed at his head and then at the body they were standing over. "Dammit, there's dead people outside, dead people inside, this planet's a massacre."

"Dead people outside?" Kirk asked.

"Yes Captain, a the entirety of a city population looks like Pompeii right outside." Allen told him.

"We've figured out that this place is a ship, how about anything on the bio-trace?"

"Yes sir," Chekov said, "eet ees inwasive to zhis planet and coming from zhee mahogany spheres outside. Further analysis can be done on zhee ship."

"Well, let's get back to the ship, we got what we came here for." He flipped open his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise." No response. "Kirk to Enterprise." Static answered his call.

"Too much interference, Captain, I believe it is the material of the walls."

"Outside we go then. Bones, will you lead us out?"

His friend grinned at him. "I was thinking you'd never ask."

They walked-a little faster-out from which they came till they were greeted with the light outside the ship. "Entering a dark, unknown, place of doom 101, always remember the way out." Bones announced.

"Well done." Kirk teased him. He looked up through a break in the canopy above them, a lone wispy white streak of cloud painted across the sky. "Cirrus?" Spock, beside him, turned to look. "It would seem so, the atmosphere is very similar to earth and the abundance of water would allow this to be true. He nodded, it kind of looked pretty alone in the sky. He pulled out his communicator again. "Take two, Kirk to Enterprise."

"Scott here."

"Beam us up, Scotty."
((He may never had said it in the TOS or original movies but nothing said he that was applicable to fanfiction :D))

The tingling and whirr of the transporter brought them into the familiarity of the transporter room.

"Welcome back, Captain, did ye find anything?"

"I believe so, Scotty," he jogged down the stairs off the transported platform and click the button on the wall, "Mr. Sulu."

"Yes Captain?"

"Set course to Origae-6."

"Already got that sir."

"Pull us out of orbit then, I'll be there shortly, Kirk out."