Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: In the canon narrative of Lockdown, TOM's idea was to have "somebody on Earth" log onto the Toonami website so they could operate the DOKs. That was the tie-in to the online game. As far as story flaws go, the problem is that if they had had any connection to anywhere would have been as easy to summon help as describing their location and saying, "Hey, come rescue us." I thought about how to get around this, and realized the answer was very close by: the mysterious ship that we never learned anything about, other than it was really freakin' old.
LOCKDOWN
Episode 2: Connecting the DOKs
"In order to get the DOKs moving," Sara explained, "the person in that star cruiser sending the distress signal will have to find a way to interface with my control systems. That my be our biggest problem, though. His own computer may be too ancient to be compatible with the ones onboard the Absolution."
"Chance we gotta take," TOM said from the cargo bay. "Let's just let him give it a shot, since we have no other ideas other than sending me over to the big scary ship. I'm all set, by the way."
In front of him, the bay doors opened. The last time he'd stood in the cargo bay and watched those massive doors part before him, he'd marveled at the grand view of a black infinity glittering with stars. This time it was not so grand. Rusted, deteriorated husks of long-dead ships, probes, and satellites filled the scene. And being in the middle of the field meant that they crowded his vision in all directions. Add to that the rust-red nebulas that characterized this entire vicinity as an industrial waste zone, and he was not happy to leave the clean interior of his own ship, power or no power.
And speaking of power ... TOM thought, glancing down at the mobile field supply, which he held in his large hand like a suitcase. Just a 'nuther day at the office.
"You'll need find some way to hook that power supply up to whatever generator the cruiser has," Sara continued, still instructing him. "Then, when he has enough energy to link to the Absolution, he will hopefully be able to access and control the DOKs with his own processing power. I'd use my own, but if I devote so much as a percentage to any task other than blocking the monster ship's transmissions, it'll break through and shut down everything, including me. And then we won't even have control over so much as a light switch."
"Yeah, I get it," TOM said. "As long as the DOKs aren't vulnerable to the tractor beam, that means I'm in the clear, too, right?" He thought back to Sara's theory that the DOKs' immunity to the tractor beam was due to their size.
"Chance we gotta take," she replied. "Good luck."
"Great, thanks." He pushed off with his feet in a gesture similar to the motion one made when shooting hoops, then activated his jetpack and swooped out into the lifeless vacuum. It was dense with large bodies of metal, and he was forced to make detours around every derelict object in his path on the way to the star cruiser. There was plenty of smaller debris that he had to dodge frequently. Deep space had never felt so congested or decrepit. It was also a little creepy knowing that all the wreckage he flew amongst was held in the grip of that giant, terrifying ship, and being pulled toward it so slowly that the movement could not be seen. It was so far in the distance and yet huge in his vision.
"If the situation weren't so tense and serious, I'd feel like listening to 'Cosmic Castaway' from that part in Titan A.E.," he said as he made a wide arc around something that looked like a truck-sized Death Star.
"No music," Sara ordered. "Especially not now. Besides, if anything, I should be playing the Mission: Impossible theme for you."
"Almost there." TOM angled around an array of turbines and the star cruiser came into view. There was no indication that anyone was alive in there. Approaching cautiously, he gripped its starboard engine pod with his free hand and peered at the ship's condition. Ultraviolet exposure, deep space debris, and age had left it scratched and scorched from stem to stern. He fired a burst from his jetpack and floated in the zero-gravity over to the cruiser's fuselage. Fixing his feet to its surface, he knelt and began looking for a hatch or other opening that would allow him access to its energy systems. Finding one, and hoping the pilot didn't mind this invasion, he pried it up with his bare fingers and began hooking the mobile power supply up to it.
"That should work," he said, rising to his feet to stand atop the cruiser. "Send the dude a friend request."
"Connecting." The whining and chittering of computer language could be heard over their mutual link. TOM knew she was walking a fine line here: too much focus on helping the occupant of this star cruiser get interfaced with her systems meant she would lose the ongoing battle with the scary ship's constant barrage of evil transmissions. Then she'd be shut down terminally, the Absolution would lose all power, and he would be even more helpless than he was right now.
He gazed out at the distant, threatening ship, the one that was a thousand times bigger than anything here and had total domination over everything in the area. In his not-too-distant past, he'd faced one or two actual monsters ... but this thing scared the crap out of him in a way that was more disturbing than he'd ever felt before.
"The cruiser is active," Sara announced.
"That's good news," TOM replied, unable to take his gaze away from the domineering ship.
"He's connected, but seems to be having a great deal of trouble interfacing with my systems. Making some adjustments ..."
TOM finally looked away from the galactic monstrosity and walked a few steps along the cruiser's hull. "Come on, buddy, we need you."
"I think we've got it," said Sara.
TOM watched. Far off, he could see a fuzzy patch in space where the clustered army of DOKs had lost their connection and begun drifting. After less than a minute of waiting, he saw their thrusters bursting to life. Then they continued toward the dark giant of a ship.
"Yeah! Way to pull through, mystery guest."
"They are proceeding inside, and I'm receiving all their visuals and logged data."
"That's one job done," TOM said. "What's next on the agenda?"
"Get back here and start fixing this bloody ship, Tom."
"On my way." Igniting his jetpack again, he was soon dodging and swerving back through the space debris toward the Absolution. The day was far from over.
