Author's Note: Hello! Hello! Nothing new to report other then how much I appreciate you all for the views, reviews, favorites and follows! Here's a BIG virtual hug from me to you! You all are amazing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek! All rights belong to JJ Abrams (movie references) and Gene Roddenberry (TOS references). If there's any technical terms I misused, grammatical errors, or mistakes you find I do apologize and I hope you can forgive me! Happy reading everyone!
"Captain! This thing he has-" Nyota started to say as my friend had stepped up to Jim to inform him of what we had found out back in the enemy base. Khan had wrapped his arm securely around my midsection and pulled me slightly to the side though I had to wiggle my way around so that I could speak to Jim as well.
"It's a weapon, Jim, two pieces were needed to activate the ancient artifact and he has them both. It's some type of bio-weapon, he…he demonstrated its capabilities on Syl." I looked at Jim sadly. "Jim…he's going to use it to destroy-" I said from my spot beside Khan as Jim's attention was now on the two of us before Sulu cut in.
"Yorktown." Sulu finished off as I looked at Jim, watched as the news slowly sunk in as he registered what Sulu had just revealed, what we all had revealed. "He's gonna destroy Yorktown."
"You take my house," Jaylah, as Jim introduced the new addition to our crew, leaned closer to Jim. "and you make it fly."
"Glad to have the gang back together." Jim smirked as he stepped off the platform, and I noticed there was a slight pep in his step as he walked, almost strutted, away. He seemed...different than the man I had seen when we left Yorktown. "Scotty, can you get this thing started?"
"Started yes." Scotty quickly followed after Jim. "Flying, that's a different story." Khan interrupted as he pulled me alongside him with Leonard trailing just to my left, keeping as close as he could to me just as Khan was doing. "These old vessels, they were built in space. They were never supposed to take off from atmosphere."
"Make it happen." Jim ordered as we heard Scotty let out a dramatic sigh.
"They're called starships for a reason, Captain." Scotty pointed out.
"When were-" Jim started to stutter as we made our way to what looked to be the bridge of this ship. I couldn't help but gasp at seeing such an ancient ship, the beauty of such an old thing was something I could only see in museums and even then only those with special access could truly see the inside of the displayed ship. "You're telling me this now?"
"Because I didn't want to disappoint you, you know, in case you didn't make it back." Scotty honestly admitted as Jim stopped beside the captain's chair with Scotty moving around to stand just in front of him.
"How thoughtful, Mister Scott." Jim sarcastically remarked.
"Captain." Spock's voice interrupted the two arguing men as he turned his attention toward the front of the window causing us to turn in the direction he was looking at. The moment our eyes saw what he had wanted us to see a swarm of those ships started to rise from where the base was located. Just as we had seen up in space, it was like a swarm of bees rising in the distance, quite reminiscent of the black mass that came out from the leader's ancient weapon.
"He's launching." Jim muttered as he stepped closer to the screen.
"The attack on Yorktown may be just the beginning." Spock pointed out. "Armed with this bio-weapon he could rid it of all life and use the base's advanced technology to attack an untold number of Federation planets."
Jim let out a sigh as he turned back to stare at the console in front of him, contemplating on what he could do with the hand he was dealt with. "We're just gonna have to get this thing flying."
"Ack, we cannae just jumpstart it, sir!" Scotty argued once more before I saw Jim smile, a mischievous, suggestive smile as he slowly turned back to Scotty.
"How we stay alive with all the chances our captain takes I will never understand." Khan whispered, already working out what Jim was silently suggested I assumed, judging off the tone of his voice.
'Man your battle stations.' I thought as I wiggled my way out of Khan's arms and made my way to the station situated just between the two consoles in the back, located just in line with the captain's chair. Everyone on deck took their places, or where they assumed their area of expertise would be needed just as I had.
"This kind of looks like a control center…quite similar to my own station back on the Enterprise." I muttered to myself as I started to get acquainted with the console before calling over to Spock. "I'll assist with anything you need from here, Commander Spock." I said as I reached over to continue my work, not even realizing that Khan and Leonard had followed until I felt two imposing presence just beside me and I couldn't help but let out a huff as I turned back around to look at my two Mates. "Khan. Leonard. I'm pretty sure that you two will be needed at your stations."
"…you be careful up here." Leonard was the first to break the silence, moving forward and placing a kiss to my forehead before leaning close to whisper into my ear. "I haven't forgotten about that little show back in the transporter. I'll be coming back for my share as well when we're alone."
'That wasn't my fault!' I thought as I felt my face heat up as I remembered the public display of affection that Khan had shown back in the transporter room. The two men hesitantly turned to walk off the bridge and when they were finally gone I couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose there's a reason for their strange, and very affectionate, behavior."
"There's a logical reason behind their concern after an interesting development had transpired in your absence." Spock said before nodding his head in my direction. "It's good to have you back, Commander DeLuca."
"Okay! All systems online." Chekov announced as Jim took a seat at the captain's chair. "Dilithium chambers at 70% and climbing. Primary support engines standing by."
"Mister Sulu." I heard Jim call over to our pilot who turned his head to listen to our captain. "You can, you know, fly this thing, right?"
"You kidding me, sir?" Sulu asked and I almost laughed before covering it up with a cough.
"Commander DeLuca," Spock called back over to me. "if you notice any strange anomalies that get past Lieutenant Uhura or myself-"
"I'll take care of it, I'm always here to support." I nodded my head.
"Fantastic." Jim sarcastically said as he nestled himself back into his chair before calling down to engineering. "Scotty, how we looking?"
"Ready as she'll ever be, sir." Scotty responded.
"That's what I like to hear. All right. Bones, where are we with the crew?" Jim redirected the call from his chair.
"I could use a functioning med-bay, but otherwise we're secure down here." Leonard responded back as well.
"Mister Sulu, we have to achiewe terminal welocity in order for the stabilizers to prowide lift. Are you sure this drop is high enough to do that?" Chekov voiced his concern to Sulu.
"We'll find out." Sulu said as he did one final work on the pilot station before I heard Sulu call out my name. "Ally, the one time I really need your assistance, you've deserted me!"
"I don't have a functioning station to assist you!" I called back as I took a glance over my shoulder, a smile permanently on my face. "I'm improvising just as everyone else."
The screen in front of us powered on, showing us a plotted path forward as Jim spoke up. "Call it, Mister Sulu."
"Aye-aye, Captain." Sulu said as he turned to his left to address Chekov. "Mister Chekov, be ready to hit the forward stabilizers full on my mark. One quarter impulse." "Aye."
The navigation console started to power on, I could hear the engines (though it was muffled) rumble as the ship started to shake, the start up was a bit rocky as expected of this old ship after not being used for god knows how long.
"One half impulse, Mister Chekov." Sulu called as the ship started to stutter while moving forward, the metal ship scrapping against the rocky terrain it sat upon like nails on a chalkboard. "Aye."
"Easy, Mister Sulu. Let's not break her in half." Jim warned as the ship started to rock from side to side. "Ally! You should get off the bridge, find a station and buckle up!"
I looked around the station I was standing at and found what looked to be a harness as well as some cuffs on the ground. Strange, but I suppose it was built in for emergency cases if a person needed to be here while also needing to buckle in. "There's handles here, Jim, and I think I found some buckles here that are meant to keep a person in place! I'll be fine!" I assured Jim, as well as myself, as I went to quickly strap myself in. Cuffing my legs with the harness on the ground as well as attaching the belts that were connected to the wall around my upper body. I reached forward and gripped the handles on the side of the station I was overlooking in order to brace myself for the rough descent. I then reached over to the communicator and proceeded with a ship wide announcement. "Attention all crew members, find a seat and buckle in. Prepare for a bumpy take off."
The ship had jolted forward, momentarily hovering just over the edge before falling at a 90 degree angle downward causing all of us to lean forward as the gravity pulled us down, or in my case backwards. The console in front of me started to flash as the alarm on the station started to warn us of the imminent danger as the ship continued to fall toward the ground below.
"Any time, Mister Sulu." Jim yelled above the alarms.
"Now, Mister Chekov!" Sulu screamed as I heard Chekov let out a gasp as I saw the thrusters ignite on my screen and just as I felt the ship begin to stabilize. Feeling the ship even out mid flight, I moved along with the ship to regain my composure so that I was standing upright. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the ship continue to ram into jagged rocks from the mountain as it attempted to take off before we finally reached clear skies. Gaining altitude as we started to leave this planet's atmosphere.
'We did it.' I thought with a smile as I released the harness around me, feeling my shoulders where the belts had dug into ache ever so slightly along with the area around my ankles. When I saw the blackness of space I let out a relieved sigh, I didn't even realize that I had held my breath in as we were falling. I pressed the button on my station that connected me to the communicators throughout the ship. "Attention crew of the Enterprise, we have successfully launched ourselves into space. You're free to move about the ship. However, for your own safety, please fasten in when you are seated in case we encounter an unexpected turbulence or our captain decides to turn the ship upside down."
"Thank you flight attendant DeLuca." Jim joked as I heard his buckles release.
"I thought I'd be considerate." I laughed as I ended the broadcast before a sudden voice came shouting from Jim's chair.
"Jim! Did Ally buckle herself in?" Leonard asked before Jim sent a sly smile my way. "A bit of warning would've been nice! Almost fell on my damn ass!"
"Ally's a big girl, Bones, she found her seatbelt and strapped herself in." Jim responded, but just before he cut off communication with Leonard he had one final thing to say. "Do try to keep this line free in case of emergencies. If you want to speak to our dear Ally come to the bridge and pay her a visit."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you get called in for an unexpected medical checkup." I joked as I looked about the screens in front of me.
As we got closer to Yorktown, Nyota was monitoring all frequencies going in and out of Yorktown from her station, and we could hear some indistinct radio chatter throughout all the channels.
"I'm picking up distress signals from every frequency coming from Yorktown." Nyota reported. "Krall's already started his attack."
I walked over to where Sulu was and placed a hand on his shoulder, noting how tense he was and when his eyes turned up to look at me I could see the terror and fear in his eyes over the safety and well-being of his husband and daughter.
"They'll be okay. They will be taken to the designated safety zones." I assured with a smile. "Her daddy is coming to save her."
"Mister Scott, what kind of weapons do we have?" Jim asked as he came over to the navigational station.
"Uh, we have pulsed phase cannons and spatial torpedoes." Scotty read off as Jim sighed with a shake of his head before turning back to his chair.
"Great. Lock and load." Jim ordered.
"It does not matter. You cannot defeat the bees." Jaylah butted in on the frequency.
"Maybe, uh, maybe we lure them away." Jim started to rub his face with his hand in frustration. "How do we…how do we get Yorktown time to get people to safety?"
"No, we are a horse and buggy compared to those things." Sulu pointed out as I heard approaching footsteps coming up from behind. "We're barely holding together as it is, Captain."
"Captain, the flight patterns of bees are determined by individual decisions." Spock interrupted. "Krall's swarm formations are too complex to not rely on some form of unified cyberpathic coordination. I surmise that if we-" Jim looked to be trying his best to keep up with Spock's explanation, impatiently waiting for Spock to finish what he was getting at before he shook his head. "Sp-Spock! Skip to the end."
"What he's saying is that if we disorient the swarm we can kick its ass!" Nyota, enthusiastically, interrupted the explanation bringing Spock's attention back to his Mate. Momentarily catching the Vulcan off guard before turning back to Jim. "Precisely."
Jim thought for a second before reaching over to get back into contact with engineering.
"Scotty, can you beam me onto one of those swarm ships?" Jim asked.
"Have you gone completely mad!?" Scotty immediately responded, almost peaking on the speaker from the captain's chair.
"Yes or no?" Jim simply asked again as he turned to walk off the bridge. "No!" Scotty said before going back on his answer. "Yes! Maybe."
"Yes, though difficult." Khan interrupted the indecisive Scotsman.
"Captain, my familiarity of the interior of those ships, however brief, makes me more qualified for this away mission." Spock adamantly spoke up to stop Jim from leaving.
"When did you get the chance to fly one of those ships?" I asked curiously before remembering what I had seen back at Krall's base. "Not to mention, your injury may cause a bit of a problem if you were to go on this away mission."
"Ally's right Spock, you're still hurt." Nyota cut in with concern.
"They're both right." Jim agreed with us as Spock looked back and forth between the three of us, at a loss for words at having been cornered before I saw Spock lightly roll his eyes at our concern since to him it probably wasn't necessary.
"I acknowledge and respect your concerns." Spock said before swiftly turning back to Jim as I saw the cogs in his brain start to turn the second I saw the little glint in his eyes. "Perhaps you would feel more confident if I were accompanied by someone with familiarity of both the ship and my injury."
I watched as the corner of Jim's lip turn up in a smile. "He's gonna love this." Jim stated before I saw him motion with his chin in my direction. "Though I suggest asking permission first, you know, to be a little bit considerate."
"Commander DeLuca," Spock turned to me which was a bit of a surprise to be honest. "we cannot accomplish this without the help of Doctor McCoy."
"Leonard's help?" I thought, before wondering why they were asking for my permission in the first place. Time was not on our side and we needed to help Yorktown…I couldn't really put up much of a fuss if we needed to save the day. "I'm confident Leonard's safe in your hands and vice versa, Spock. Though, you should run the plan by Leonard yourself."
My Captain and First Officer nodded before the latter rushed off to the transporter leaving Jim and myself behind.
"You should call Bones to the transporter room." Jim smiled as he quickly left as well. "If you want you can come and see him off."
"He's gonna hate you so much." I laughed as I reached over to the captain's chair. "Doctor McCoy, report to the transporter room immediately."
I ran off the bridge before even hearing a response and made my way toward the transporter room, which wasn't that big of a distance to travel compared to the Enterprise. With the medbay close to the transporter room, Leonard had made it there before I did. It would seem Jim had already begun informing the man briefly on what their plan was for when I made it to the room Leonard was already looking at Jim as if he had lost his damn mind.
"You want me to do what?" I heard Leonard harshly whisper as I walked up to join the two of them.
"Come along, Doctor." Spock came strutting up behind me as he went to take his place on the transporter pad.
"Whoa! Wait a minute." Leonard followed Spock closely behind as he pointed a finger at Spock. "Why, you green-blooded ingrate. This was your idea!"
"It's a good idea, Bones." Jim pushed a phaser into his hands to which Leonard began to point the weapon at Spock in replace of his finger.
"You know, next time you have a piece of pipe stuck in your transverse, call a plumber." Leonard growled as I ran up to my Mate, reaching up and taking his face into my hands. I gave him a quick kiss to his lips, completely catching him off guard and deterring him away from his rant, along with a promise of more to come.
"Be safe, and make sure you come back to me." I whispered as I moved away and off the platform.
"Just make sure you find a way to break those things." Jim said to Spock as I went over to stand behind the glass wall.
"If it gets hairy, I'll beam you straight back." Scotty assured the two men standing on the platform, though that didn't make things any better with Leonard as I felt intense irritation and panic coming from Leonard through our bond as his eyes fell on me.
"Energize." Spock gave the command as their bodies started to dematerialize starting from their bottom half.
"You're gonna do great!" Jim called back as he stepped off the platform and made his way back to my side as I watched Leonard look down at his body.
"Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a-" Leonard started to make a fuss, being unable to finish his sentence as both men had vanished.
"On a scale of one to ten, how bad did Bones want to kill me?" Jim asked me with a hum.
"Eleven." I shook my head though I had a smile on my face. I was still worried and concerned for my Mate, but with Scotty working at the station I had full trust in the man that he could accomplish getting them onto one of Krall's ships. "He may not even talk to you for a while."
"He'll forgive me." Jim smiled as he turned to jog back to the bridge. "Come, Ally. We're needed at our stations."
"What's gotten into you?" I asked with a smile as I ran to catch up to the man. "You seem to be in a better mood than when we first left Yorktown."
"A new lease on life I suppose." Jim said as the two of us ran back to the bridge together.
"Spock to Franklin." Spock connected to the Franklin the moment Jim took a seat back in the captain's chair.
"Spock, we read you." Jim answered as I went over to the station Spock previously occupied.
"Captain, from what I can ascertain, the ships do indeed share a cyberpathic link which coordinates their actions." There were a few sounds coming from Spock's end. "Patching it through now."
"That's what the signal was." Nyota said as over the speakers a familiar sound came through that was instantly recognizable to our ears. "They weren't jamming us, they were talking to each other."
"Well, how do we get them to stop talking?" Jim asked.
"What about electromagnetic focusing?" Scotty popped in. "We could use the transporters, disrupt their network."
"It could work…" I nodded toward Jim.
"The focus might be too specific. If we could plant some sort of disruptive communication signal inside the swarm, it might adversely affect their capacity to coordinate." Spock advised.
"It would have to be a frequency they will not anticipate." Chekov added.
"And we could cause a chain reaction that would wipe out the whole swarm." Sulu stated.
"Sir, a closed network like that might be susceptible to very high frequency." Scotty said.
"VHF." Jim realized. "Radio. We can-we can broadcast something from the ship to drown out their link. Something loud and distracting."
"Loud and distracting?" Scotty seemed to have an idea judging off how enthusiastic and how loud he was shouting. "I've got just the thing!"
"Please, god, no…" I heard Khan very quietly groan as I heard a loud commotion coming from their end before the line cut off.
We didn't have to wait long before Scotty came rushing onto the bridge carrying a large, elongated, object in his hands with Jaylah and Khan following close behind. Jaylah looked annoyed while Khan looked like he was dreading what Scotty had in mind.
"Do not break my music." Jaylah warned Scotty as he placed the contraption on Nyota's station.
"Break it?" Scotty scoffed as he reached under Nyota's station to tinker with the loose wires while pulling some apart. "You're getting an upgrade."
"I heard McCoy is flying a ship." Khan said as he came over to where I sat.
"Wasn't happy one bit." I giggled as I watched curiously as Scotty began his work. "What is that?"
"A radio that Jaylah had built to stave off her boredom." Khan sighed. "While I was stuck with the two of them, they played music loud enough to burst an eardrum."
"Careful Khan, your age is showing." I shook my head as I realized that Scotty was now having a bit of a difficult time reconnecting the wires that he had pulled away before looking back at my screen. "Krall's men are starting to attack in formation, converging on a singular location: Yorktown's gate!"
"Swarm ships are 60 seconds from breaking through!" Sulu warned as well from what he was seeing.
"I've just got to reconfigure the VHF output into a multiphase sweep." Scotty called back as Jaylah started to impatiently tap Scotty's shoulder.
"Le-let me do it." Jaylah argued. "Not now lassie!"
"Let her do it." Nyota tried to convince Scotty who was starting to slightly panic as he connected one of the wires into the console. Scotty, frantic and in a panic, had connected the wrong wires causing a reaction from the console as a single spark erupted from the station. Jim, who had gone over to check on the Scotsman's work, jumped back in surprise and to avoid getting electrocuted as well.
"Ah! Alright, you do it." Scotty scuttled out from under the station, stomping his feet on the ground in frustration and grumbling as he crawled away.
Jaylah had easily taken over Scotty's work as she pulled away one of the longer, thicker wires and plugged it into her box. "There, see? Simple."
"All right. Captain, we're ready to broadcast." Scotty nodded his head, his hair a bit frizzed and out of place due to the electricity that was transferred throughout his body from the previous mishap.
"But the signal won't travel far. We have to get closer." Nyota said. "How close?" "Very."
"Intercept course, Mister Sulu." Jim turned back around to stare at the screen. "Put us right in the middle of that thing."
"Yes, sir." Sulu said as he began to pilot the ship closer, determined to do all that he could do as the engines started to power up. He flew us straight toward the swarm of ships that were relentlessly attacking Yorktown in waves.
As we got closer to the swarm, I had authorized our weapons to lock on to any random ship we came across or any that were close by the moment we flew close, firing just enough of our phasers to catch their attention before we turned back around. When we were at a reasonable distance, Sulu had turned the ship to face the swarm head on, waiting patiently for any change in their direction. The swarm had momentarily stopped their attack on Yorktown, and turned to face us head on. "We've got their attention Captain."
"The swarm ships are doubling back! They are forming an attack wave, sir." Chekov called out.
"Hold steady, Mister Sulu. Brace yourselves, everybody. Spock, stand by to drop out of formation." Jim listed off without skipping a beat. "Scotty, you all cued up back there?"
"Aye, sir!" Scotty responded.
"Ready to broadcast at 57.7 megahertz." Nyota said.
"Made your choice, lassie?" Scotty asked Jaylah who was fiddling with the knobs on her radio.
"I have the beat and and shouting." Jaylah answered without taking her eyes off her machine.
As the ships got closer, on the screen in front of us we watched as a huge imposing wave of black mass barreled down on us. Our ship started to shake as the rumbling got closer, the ships blocked out the lights from the starbase and the stars in space. I couldn't help but tense in my seat, gripping the edges of my station, as we waited in anticipation for Jim to give the final command to Jaylah.
"Let's make some noise" And right on cue, just as Jim spoke, Jaylah had pressed the button on her music box and…rock music started to blare on the speaker? Loud guitar riffs and drums being hit in rhythm, ramping up to what I could tell was going to be a stupendous intro. The classical music was something I deeply enjoyed as I could feel my foot under my station begin tapping to the steady rhythm of chaos.
"That's a good choice." Jim commented as the vocals started to play, and from what I could tell it was working as from all around I saw the ships start to crash into each other. The disruption was infecting their coordination, but the explosions coming from the impacts of Krall's ships were jostling ours to the side as Sulu tried his best to keep us steady as we rode through this wave of fire and debris.
I noticed that I wasn't the only one enjoying the tunes as I saw a few others on board were doing just the same as I was. If things weren't so serious, I would've enjoyed this moment with the crew. But there was something else that had caught my eye, a few ships had broken out of formation and were headed straight for Yorktown. Either that was the ship Leonard and Khan were on, or the leader had broken free to avoid being caught in the explosions.
"Lieutenant Uhura, make sure Yorktown has the frequency to broadcast." Jim yelled above the music.
From all around Yorktown, through the fiery blaze we rode in and escaping the destruction with ease, Yorktown was lit up in a big ball of flames. The ships that were attacking the base had all destroyed itself due to Yorktown enhancing the music we were broadcasting on a massive scale.
"You two all right, Spock?" Jim asked.
"We are fine, Captain, but there are still three ships heading into Yorktown." Spock informed us, assuring us as well that they had made it out in one piece.
"That's gotta be Krall. Keep on him, Spock." Jim ordered. "Do whatever it takes to stop him from using that weapon."
"We'll need to ram into that exact same hole to gain access into Yorktown, Mister Sulu." I called as I read off my console, noticing there was a tiny hole that the three ships, as well as Leonard's, had broken through. "Brace for sudden impact! I repeat, brace for sudden impact!" The second our ship had broken through the gate our ship started to stagger. "Captain, we've lost the polarization of the hull plating! Khan-"
"We're working with Mister Scott on rerouting the power from the dilithium chambers. We'll get it back up and running." Khan responded as we continued to move forward.
From further up ahead I saw four ships veer upward, breaching the water of the lake that was above us as we continued to follow them from below.
"Captain, intercepting all three ships is an impossibility." Spock called as we saw one of the ships attempt to cut them off.
"Get me schematics of Yorktown!" Jim ordered and from my station I quickly tapped into the Yorktown database and swiped it onto the screen. The floor plan for the path we were on popped up as it showed the full image of the base. "There! Yorktown headquarters!"
"Mister Chekov, can you do a bioscan of Central Plaza." Sulu asked.
"Aye. They're clearing ciwilians." Chekov answered.
"Bones, there's a city plaza coming up. You gotta make sure Krall heads for it." Jim ordered. "Why?" "Just do it!"
"What you're considering is insane, Jim." I commented as I held on tight to my station. preparing for what Jim was planning.
"Sulu, get us up there." Jim ordered.
"Hold onto something!" Sulu yelled as the ship continued to rock side to side as it grazed the bottom of the tunnel before entering into the very heart of the base.
Maneuvering around in this ancient metal ship wasn't easy for any pilot in this day and age, but Sulu was managing it to the best of his ability as we once again grazed one of the contraptions located in the center of the base before heading toward a specific tunnel. We ascended upward, hoping to make it just in time to meet the three ships that were forced to head toward the city plaza. If Leonard had accomplished what Jim had asked then this mad plan would succeed, we just needed to be a few seconds ahead of Krall and his men.
The Franklin had risen up from the water, breaching the surface as I saw a sudden notification of a hull breach coming from the bottom of our ship. Majority of us aboard had jolted around in our seats due to the ship falling back into the water, before it settled down on the surface of the lake.
"Captain, we have successfully stopped Krall and his men." I smiled, reporting what I had seen on my screen.
"Great work, Bones." Jim congratulated.
"Thanks, Jim." Leonard said, sounding a bit relieved before I heard slight hesitation in his voice. "Now I've just gotta figure out how to land."
"Captain, I have three hull breaches from the impact. Deck 3, the cargo bay, and the engine room." Chekov read his screen as I got up from my seat and went over to help Nyota to her feet as I saw her stagger just a bit from the rough landing.
"All right. Ally, go with Chekov and Sulu, check the cargo bay and Deck 3. We need confirmation that the weapon has been neutralized and Krall is dead!" Jim ordered as I moved to make my way to the indicated area with Sulu and Chekov following close behind.
"Be on your guard," I whispered to the two men behind me. "lights are down, we have no visuals, and we don't know if Krall has entered these levels or not."
"Yes, Commander." The two men had voiced simultaneously in a whisper as the three of us made our way to the two levels.
Deck 3 was clear, all that we had found in the darkness of the ship was injured crewmen that I had started to silently call out orders to those that could still move about the ship. I stayed on guard as I watched for any unidentified figures that could be lurking in the darkness.
"Deck 3 is cleared, Commander." Sulu said as he came back to my side.
I nodded my head in acknowledgment before calling over to Chekov. "Chekov, stay here and watch over the crew. Sulu, with me to the cargo bay."
"Be careful, Mister Sulu. Commander DeLuca." Chekov said as we rushed down toward the cargo bay area. Compared to Deck 3, aside from the constant sparks coming from the broken machinery there was an unsettling silence throughout this level.
"I don't see anything Ally." Sulu said as I heard the impatient tone in his voice as we slowly inched our way further into the room.
"Doesn't mean there's nothing here…" I muttered before turning a corner with my phaser out in front of me. "it seems awfully quiet as well…"
Though we had momentarily lowered our weapons, that didn't mean that we had let our guard down. A little further ahead of us, Sulu and I heard the muffled sounds of phasers being shot as well as shouts for help in the distance that caused us to rush over to where the sound was coming from.
When we had gotten to where the commotion was all we saw were our crew along with a few of Krall's men scattered about the floor.
"Commander DeLuca. Lieutenant Sulu." One of our crewmen came up to greet us, huffing in exhaustion, but a relieved smile on his face at seeing the two of us.
"Are these the only three?" I asked as Sulu bent down to make sure that the drones, Krall's lackeys, were completely destroyed.
"The only ones we've come across." Our crewmen answered before Sulu got back to his feet.
"They must've come down from Deck 3 to convene with their friends." Sulu reasoned as he let out a sigh. "We better make a call to the captain, tell him Deck 3 and cargo bay is cleared.
I took out my communicator, intent on calling Jim to report what we had found before I noticed the Lieutenant in front of me begin to act strangely. Something behind me had caught their attention as their eyes widened in horror, their mouth opening to shout out a warning. "Commander DeLuca, look out!"
I brought up my phaser and pivoted on my heels, ducking down to kneel on one knee and firing as soon as I saw a flash of green. My phaser had hit the target that was just a few paces behind me followed by another that had come from Sulu.
Our target was taken down to the ground before I saw the outline of a hand being held out for me to take. I reached out to grab the offered hand as I was pulled back to my full height, and when I saw that the hand belonged to Sulu as well I smiled in appreciation. "Thank's Hikaru."
"No thanks necessary Ally." Sulu smiled before I went back to attempt to call for Jim.
"Captain," I flipped open my communicator and called out to Jim. "we have four bodies."
"Any of them Krall?" Jim asked.
"No, Captain." I said as I looked over my shoulder down to the bodies. "All drones. We found some surviving crewmen on both Deck 3 and cargo bay, but no signs of Krall."
"He's still onboard this ship, we came across some of our crew in the engine room, no survivors. Uhura says it's some kind of energy transference that Krall had used back at his base." Jim reported to us what he had found. "I want you to contact Yorktown security and lock down the ship."
"Understood Captain, be careful." I redirected my call, jumping onto the Yorktown frequency. "Yorktown security, this is Commander DeLuca. We need the Franklin locked down immediately. No one is to leave this ship." I instantly got a response from someone I did not expect to hear.
"Allyson?" I heard my brother's voice come from the other end of the line. "What the hell is going on out there! A lot of your crew has already vacated the ship, we're escorting the injured to safety as we speak."
"What the hell are you doing on security detail?" I yelled out in shock.
"With our fleet answering the distress signal out in the Nebula, they had gone on a rescue mission and haven't returned. By order of Commodore Paris, I've been assigned to oversee all security details of this starbase." Aurelius responded. "I want a full report on what's happening, Commander DeLuca."
I was about to respond before I heard someone else attempting to contact me. "Hold on." I placed my brother on hold before switching over to the other line and heard Jim's voice come from the other end. "Captain?"
"Allyson, I don't know how but Krall is Balthazar Edison. He's gotta go somewhere that will inflict maximum damage which we concluded would be at the core of the atmospheric regulator. I'm having Lieutenant Uhura contact Yorktown to make sure they know what Edison is planning." Jim said. "Scotty, Jaylah, and Khan are heading over to the maintenance tower to get them to shut it down."
"Tell them I'll meet them there. Do not go in unless I'm with them." I sighed, knowing full well what they were about to walk into. "They're going to come across a very stubborn Captain blocking their path."
'Time to face my big brother.' I thought as I turned to Sulu. "I'm heading to the maintenance tower, gather everyone and get off this ship."
"Yes, Commander."
I feel like...I may be rushing the last few chapters, considering most of the time it's from Ally's POV and because I couldn't imagine Ally assisting Jim or being on the drone ship with Spock and Leonard. They needed their own self discovery that being in Starfleet/serving aboard the Enterprise (as a Captain or First Officer) is their destiny and the path they need to follow. I feel like close to the end of the movie is when they really realized that that is where they belong.
pottsy: Yes, you 100% needs to watch the original series. It's so nostalgic to see such old films, but I love it. You can really see the banter and bromance between Spock, Jim, and Bones along with the whole crew haha I laugh all the time.
If you are enjoying yourself and my story: review, follow, and favorite! But it's not mandatory =) just knowing that you gave my story a chance, and decided to read my creation makes me incredibly happy! I hope everyone is continuing to stay safe out there wherever you may be in the world!
-SO