Chapter 38: Liftoff

A/N: So I posted chapter 37, then promptly went off and finished chapter 39 and edited the crap out of the beginning of chapter 40 so they would mesh properly. I probably still need to clean them up a little, but oh my goodness, I am almost done. I have the last scene written, I just need to finish this one part, and then make the last part pretty and then I'm done, done, done! I don't even know what to do with that information. It seems impossible. But here we are!

Current goal for finishing this fic is end of June, but I've let so many deadlines come and go at this point, I cannot in good conscience make any promises.

Also, I saw Deadpool 2 a couple days ago and it was AWESOME and Ryan Reynolds is my hero!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Star Trek, though I am now the proud owner of many Star Trek movies from the original series, and I'm very excited to watch them!

Hikaru Sulu tried to stay as close to Syl and Nyota as he could as Krall led them into the structure attached to the pen. Most of the crew had been left outside, but Krall's soldiers hadn't stopped Sulu and a few of the bolder crewmembers from following. Krall was gently holding the artifact that Syl had given him, his face oddly reverent.

"This is Abernoth. It was used by the ancient ones as a weapon," Krall explained, his voice harsh, as though he didn't use it often. "When they could not control its deadly power, they split it in two and ejected the two halves into space, hoping it would be lost forever."

As he spoke, he walked away from his captives. Nyota was following him, brows furrowed in concentration as she listened to his tale. Syl trailed closely behind Nyota, still visibly shaken by Krall's recent attempt on Sulu's life. They were getting too far away for Sulu's liking, and he stepped closer, only for a door to suddenly slam in front of him, cutting him off from Nyota and Syl.

The door was a massive structure, and he slammed his fist against it fruitlessly. It was too thick for him to hear anything that Krall or Nyota were saying to each other, and he could only watch helplessly through a small glass panel.

Nyota continued to follow Krall, clearly engaged in an animated discussion with their captor. Syl was lingering, not wanting to get too far from the rest of the crew. And then another door slammed closed, and Sulu banged his fist against the door once again in impotent fury. Syl was alone now in this room, with Nyota trapped with Krall on the other side.

And then, as Sulu watched in horror, a black cloud seemed to float into the room through the door Krall and Nyota had exited from. Syl's scream was loud enough for Sulu to hear it even through the practically sound-proofed door. He watched helplessly as she ran towards the door where he could see Nyota standing, pounding her fist against the glass and screaming at Krall. Syl stretched her hand out beseechingly towards Nyota, then the cloud consumed her completely, and she was gone.

Sulu covered his mouth with one hand, feeling like he might be sick. The callous way that Krall had murdered two bound and helpless crewmembers in front of him and Nyota earlier had been sickening, but this… Such an icy, impersonal death for one of the most genuinely good people to walk the halls of the Enterprise… He looked up and met Nyota's eyes across that chamber of death, and saw the same feelings of revulsion and horror reflected on her face.

And then the soldiers grabbed his arms, yanking him back outside and herding the rest of the crew along as well. But Krall had kept Nyota with him.

Shaken, Sulu leaned against the fence, clinging to the metal to stay upright. His head was pounding and he could barely see, but closing his eyes just brought the picture of Syl being consumed by the black cloud to the forefront of his mind.

"Lieutenant, what happened in there?" one of the science officers asked. "What happened to Lieutenant Uhura, and Ensign Syl?"

Sulu could only shake his head, unable to put into words what he'd just seen.

He didn't know how long he stood there, trying to wrap his mind around the enormity of a weapon that could destroy living beings so efficiently, when he heard a low roaring that reminded him very much of a motorcycle, but that simply couldn't be on a planet that humans had never set foot on…

And then he saw Kirk riding the motorcycle, a pretty albino alien clinging to his back. As he watched, Kirk slowed down, and the girl dismounted, dashing off. Kirk took off again, and soon Sulu was sure his eyes had stopped working because it appeared that at least a dozen Kirks on motorcycles were riding around Krall's camp. Before he had time to really process that, Spock and McCoy were standing at the gate, picking the lock.

Sulu straightened up at once, meeting them at the gate as soon as it was open. "Commander," he said to Spock, not bothering with any pleasantries. "Uhura, they took her."

Spock's lips thinned. Although he and Nyota had long since abandoned their relationship, they were still close friends, and Spock was not pleased to hear that she might be in danger. "Get the remainder of the crew to safety," he said shortly, striding off to find her.

"Come on, let's go!" McCoy exclaimed. "Move!" He gestured towards a large metallic circle, and gestured with a metal disc, which Sulu took from him. He immediately recognized Pavel's handiwork, and he took a deep breath, pushing the sick terror to the back of his mind and embracing command once more.

"Stand in the circle," he told the rest of the crew, handing the disc off to the nearest crewmember and taking a step back.

"No more than twenty!" McCoy called, checking someone's injury to make sure that they didn't require immediate aid.

One of Scotty's engineering officers activated the device, and the twenty crewmembers vanished. Sulu couldn't help but sigh in relief. They were heading somewhere safe, thank goodness. He immediately joined McCoy in herding the crew onto the circle, twenty at a time, to be transported to parts unknown. Every now and then, he looked around to watch as Kirk flew past on his motorcycle, and he saw the flashing white hair of his alien companion as she fought Manas, Krall's second-in-command. Krall's soldiers were shouting, but they seemed so distracted by Kirk that they were powerless to prevent the Enterprise crew from making their escape.

They were down to the last dozen or so crewmembers, and so McCoy and Sulu joined them on the large metal circle. Sulu braced himself for the familiar icy feeling of being teleported, but nothing happened. He glanced at McCoy, who was glaring mutinously down at his communicator.

"Ten seconds until transporters recharge, Doctor," Scotty's brogue coming in faintly through the comm.

"Wait for my signal!" McCoy barked.

"Doctor!" Scotty protested, but McCoy just made a disdainful noise.

"Damnit man, we're not leaving without them!"

Sulu glanced around. He knew instinctively that McCoy meant that they weren't leaving without Spock and Nyota, for surely Kirk had his own transporter signal beacon. And he agreed with the doctor that leaving the two officers behind was not an option. Even though Sulu wanted nothing more than to get away from this nightmare of a planet, he refused to do it at the expense of any crewmember.

Thankfully, before it became a pressing issue, Nyota appeared, with Spock at her side.

"You found her," Sulu said, relieved that she had escaped Syl's fate.

Nyota snorted. "I found him."

Spock just shrugged, not arguing the truth of that statement.

Sulu looked around, and saw that they were being quickly approached by Krall's soldiers, all holding weapons. "We need to go!" he exclaimed, wishing more than anything in the world that he had a weapon so that he could at least go down fighting and maybe get some of the crew to safety. Spock and McCoy had drawn their weapons at least, but before anyone could take a shot, Kirk came flying in on his motorcycle, whipping in a circle around his crew. They were quickly surrounded by something brown that Sulu at first thought was dust, but then he realized it was something he had never seen before. It appeared to be a gas or perhaps a very particulate solid, but then it solidified upon prolonged contact with the atmosphere, creating a wall that looked like brown glass all around them. Krall's soldiers started firing their weapons, but the phaser beams bounced harmlessly off the surface of the strange substance. Sulu spared a second to wonder if Pavel had had a chance to examine this stuff, but then the transporter activated, and he watched the familiar golden light envelop all of them.

When they rematerialized, Sulu was taken aback to find himself on a starship. An old one, clearly, but a starship nonetheless. Baffled that there was a starship all the way out here, but accepting that of course the Enterprise crew would have found one if it was there to find, Sulu collected himself just in time to catch Pavel in his arms.

The younger man was wearing his Kelvin pod survival suit, and he looked tired, but none the worse for wear. Sulu wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, burying his nose in the other's curls, just breathing and letting himself hold on. Sulu hated himself a little for not taking more time to worry about Pavel's safety, but he'd been a prisoner and had been concerned about the survival of the crew whose fate he might have some say in protecting. He was sure Pavel would forgive him though.

Although he could have cheerfully stood there, just holding onto Pavel for hours, they had pressing matters at hand. They needed to get off this horrible planet, and they needed to get to Yorktown. Because Krall had been spying on Yorktown, and he hated the Federation, and now he had that horrific weapon… These facts had all been present in his brain, but the real implications crashed into him hard. He looked towards Nyota, who was standing close to Spock and McCoy, and he saw realization in her eyes as well. He pulled back, and Pavel let him, his hazel eyes shining with relief.

"Pav, we need to get Kirk. We need… Yorktown. They're going to attack Yorktown." Sulu could barely string the words together, the image of Miko and Andy and Kaylah swallowed up by a black mist and dissolving into nothingness was drowning him, but he needed to pull himself together.

Pavel's hands moved soothingly up and down Sulu's arms. "Da, ve are getting ze keptin, and ve vill go to Yorktown," he promised. He gripped Sulu's arm for a moment longer, then visibly pulled himself away, returning to Scotty's side.

The chief engineer was yelling at Kirk to hit the beacon, but Pavel shook his head, there was no signal just yet. Sulu held his breath, but Kirk had a way of getting out of tight corners.

"Ah, dere eet is!" Pavel exclaimed.

"Energize!" Scotty shouted.

And then the transporter room was filled with whoops of relief as Kirk and the albino alien hit the floor with a resounding thud.

"Okay, let's never do that again," Kirk groaned.

"I agree, James T," the alien gasped, her voice heavily accented and her enunciation overly careful. Sulu raised his eyebrows, realizing that she was speaking very correct Standard without the aid of a translator, but he joined Nyota and Pavel as they hurried to help the pair to their feet.

"Captain, this thing he has…" Nyota exclaimed, but her voice shook, and she had to stop speaking.

Sulu broke in. "Yorktown. They're going to destroy Yorktown." And he surprised himself with how icy cold his voice was as he said that.

Kirk and the female alien were silent for a moment, then she turned to look over Sulu's shoulder at Scotty. "You take my house. And you make it fly."

Kirk also looked over Sulu's shoulder in Scotty's direction. "Scotty, can you get this this started?"

"What, started? Yes. Flying is certainly a different thing. These old vessels were built in space. They were not supposed to take off from the atmosphere." Scotty's accent became a little heavier as he studied his captain, seemingly searching for the words to make him understand.

"Make it happen," Kirk replied, clearly not giving a damn what the laws of physics had to say on the matter.

"They're called starships for a reason, captain!" Scotty exclaimed.

Kirk stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Why are you telling me this now?"

Scotty's face twisted into a slightly chastised look of frustration. "Because I dinnae want to disappoint you, you know, in case you dinnae made it back."

"How thoughtful of you, Mr. Scott," Kirk said, his voice as dry as the desert.

"Captain," Spock interrupted. He nodded towards one of the windows of the ship. Everyone turned to watch as a swarm of tiny vessels zoomed up into space.

"He's launching," Kirk observed, looking dismayed.

"The attack on Yorktown may be just the beginning. Armed with this bioweapon, he could rid it of all life, and then use the base's advanced technology to attack an untold number of federation planets."

A shadow passed over Kirk's face, but it was gone almost immediately. "We're just going to have to get this thing flying."

"Ach, we cannae just jumpstart it, sir!" Scotty exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

But Kirk was staring right at Sulu as he said this, and the pilot nodded, understanding immediately. Kirk turned to look at Scotty, who looked stunned as he realized that their captain did, in fact, have a plan.

Several quick discussions about physics and the exact specs of the ship's engine later, Sulu was following Pavel onto the bridge. Starship bridge design hadn't changed too much since this ship was built, and the seats felt familiar at their console in the middle of the bridge. The only real difference was the extraordinarily clunky harness-type buckles they used to strap themselves into their seats. Knowing what was coming next, Sulu took an extra moment to make sure the harness was secure before he began studying the controls. Luckily, these were also similar to the Enterprise, and putting his hands on the familiar buttons and switches felt as much like coming home as being in Pavel's arms did.

"Okay!" Pavel said with forced brightness, jarring Sulu out of his reverie. "All systems online. Dilithium chambers at sewenty percent and climbing. Primary subvarp engines are standing by."

"Mr. Sulu?" Kirk said from the captain's chair behind them. Sulu turned his head to look at his captain. "You can, you know, fly this thing, right?"

Sulu lifted an eyebrow and hoped his expression conveyed every ounce of deadpan that he was feeling at the moment. "You kidding me, sir?"

Kirk blinked at him, then nodded. "Fantastic. Scotty, how we looking?"

"Ready as she'll ever be, sir," the unmistakably skeptical chief engineer responded.

"That's what I like to hear, all right," Kirk said, cheerfully ignoring Scotty's pessimism. "Bones, where are we with the crew?"

"I could use a functioning med bay, but otherwise we're secure down here," the grumpy medical officer replied over the comms.

Pavel leaned towards Sulu, or leaned as much as he could while strapped securely in his seat. "'Meester Sulu," he whispered, slipping back into formal titles now that they were on the bridge and on mission, "ve hawe to achiewe terminal welocity in order for ze stabilizer to prowide lift. Are you sure dis drop is high enough to do dat?"

Sulu cast a slightly grim look towards his boyfriend. "We'll find out."

"Call it, Mr. Sulu," Kirk exclaimed.

"Aye aye, captain," Sulu acknowledged. "Mr. Chekov, be ready to hit the forward stabilizers on my mark, one quarter impulse."

"Aye," Pavel responded, his knuckles white on the lever.

The ship shook and groaned, low and fierce, but unmistakably lurched forward.

"One half impulse, Mr. Chekov," Sulu said, his face set as he watched the readings on his console closely. The metal screeched in protest, but Sulu knew that the ship would hold.

"Aye," Chekov acknowledged, and the groaning only intensified, and the ship shook and shuddered under the strain of moving after sitting in the same spot for an untold number of years.

"Easy, Mr. Sulu, let's not break her in half!" Kirk said, his voice nearly as strained as the metal. Sulu ignored him, confident that the ship was holding, despite the unholy noises it was making.

The ship lurched forward again, balancing on the precipice of the cliff for what felt like an eternity before wobbling, tilting, and finally falling straight down to the ground below. Sulu heard Pavel's sharp intake of breath, but he didn't dare move his eyes from the console, not for even an instant, watching as the ship sped up even as the ground raced to meet them.

"Any time, Mr. Sulu!" Kirk yelled, but it was practically white noise in Sulu's ear, nothing mattered but the numbers in front of him and the approaching trees and the adrenaline humming through his veins as he held the life of his crew and the lives of all the citizens of Yorktown in the palm of his hand, even as his gripped his own controllers.

"NOW, MR CHEKOV!" he shouted the instant they hit terminal velocity, so close to the ground, he needed Pavel to react to his voice the moment he heard it or they wouldn't have enough lift and they'd crash to the ground, but Pavel had complete trust in Sulu's judgement as well as fantastic reflexes, and they both hit their levers at the exact same moment. The ship screeched again, wobbled, then suddenly straightened up from its downward plummet to fly levelly. The crew was thrown back in their seats, and Sulu gasped as his harness slammed into his torso, knocking the breath from his lungs. But he recovered, turning towards Pavel and seeing the wonder etched on the younger man's face as they broke through Altamid's atmosphere, setting a course back to Yorktown.

"Ve did eet, you did eet, you really did eet," Pavel whispered, his cheeks flushed with exhilaration. Then both of them turned back to the console, trying to force the ship to chase after Krall's swarm at greater speeds.

"I'm picking up distress signals on every frequency coming from Yorktown," Nyota said, quickly slipping back into professional mode. "Krall's already started his attack."

"Mr. Scott, what kind of weapons do we have?" He listened to the answer, though Sulu couldn't hear it over the low whine of the ship's engines. "Maybe we can lead them away. Give Yorktown time to get people to safety," the captain said finally. Clearly he wasn't satisfied with their choice of weapons.

Sulu glanced back. "We are horse and buggy compared to these things. We are barely holding together as it is, Captain." He hated to admit it, but everyone could tell it was true. It would be a miracle if this ship made it to Yorktown even under the best of circumstances, much less while trying to chase down a much more advanced fleet of ships.

"Captain, the flight patterns of bees are determined by individual decisions. Krall's drone formations are too complex not to rely on some form of unified coordination," Spock said, frowning at his console. "I surmise…"

"Spock, skip to the end," Kirk said impatiently. Spock's lips pursed, slightly put out.

"What he thinks is that if we disorient the swarm, we can kick its ass," Nyota put in. Sulu grinned, liking her train of thought.

"Precisely," Spock confirmed.

"Scotty, can you beam me onto one of those drone ships?" Kirk asked.

Even with the whining engines and groaning metal, the entire bridge heard Scotty shout, "Have you gone completely mad?!"

"Yes or no?" Kirk snapped.

"No! Yes. Maybe!" was the agitated reply.

"Captain," Spock interrupted, "I am familiar with the interior of those ships, that makes me more qualified for this away mission."

"Spock, you're still hurt," Nyota protested.

"She's right, Spock," Kirk agreed.

"I acknowledge and respect your concerns," Spock said, his impassive face going oddly softer as he looked at the pair. "Perhaps you will feel more confident if I were accompanied by someone with familiarity of both the ship and my injury."

Kirk paused, looking torn between skepticism and amusement. "Oh, he's going to love this."

Pavel choked back a laugh, and Sulu was baffled until he realized that Kirk was hailing Dr. McCoy, and then he understood exactly what Pavel found so funny.

A/N: My sweet lord, it feels like Beyond canon will never end. Except how the next chapter is definitely the last chapter of movie canon, plus some extra stuff, and then chapter 40 will be the end of the fic! I'm not ready to let go, but I'm also excited for my next project! Especially since I explained the basic plot to sapphireanguill, and she got mad and yelled at me about having too much angst, which means I'm definitely on the right track, mwahahaha! Stay tuned for more details on that!