Jim checked his communications with the rest of his team. "I want us to stay on an open channel as much as possible," he said.

"That's a good idea," Bones replied. "Let's broadcast our position."

"Bones, that's insubordination."

"I believe the doctor has an overabundance of pessimism today," Spock said.

"Well, I sure don't have any optimism about this situation," Bones declared.

"You never do," Korax added. "At least we know his communicator is working."

"Guys, let's try to curb our sarcasm," Jim said.

"You're asking something impossible with this group," Solan said. "Where most people just say testing, with this group we get insults. I'll be insulter number five."

"Is that what we're calling our little assault team here…the insulters?" Anakin asked.

"Well, I think that Cabal will be pretty insulted when he's outdone by humans."

"This is getting worse all the time," Bones said. "This group should never have an open channel with speaking freely allowed."

"Except for you, correct?" Spock asked.

"Don't patronize me. You started all that."

"Guys, let's have radio silence for the time being. We know all our communications are working," Jim said. "We don't know what we'll be facing when we get there, so let's try to stay focused."

"We are focused, Jim," Spock replied.

Jim knew they were relieving tension by insulting each other. "You have quite a group," Carol said. "But they always seem to be able to accomplish the impossible."

"Admiral, do you mind if I join your team?" someone asked.

Jim scowled a moment as he recognized that voice. "Sulu?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You're welcome as always, Mister Sulu. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago. I'd like to be with a bunch of people I know in this."

"We're glad to have you."

There was silence as they all headed for an unknown situation…

Jim looked down at the frozen North as they were traveling up into the Arctic Circle in order to go to their destination. "I'm sure glad they're not down there," he said.

"Looks very cold," Carol replied.

Jim looked at Carol. "I have no idea what we're going into. Just remember that I love you."

"I love you too, Jim."

"You know this is an open channel, don't you?" Bones asked. "Do we have to listen to that mush?"

Jim rolled his eyes at that. "What are you doing eavesdropping?"

"Eavesdropping? You're the one talking on an open channel."

"Doctor, I do not see anything inappropriate in what they said. I do believe you are simply cranky as usual," Spock said.

"Is this the conversation for people who are about to be in the middle of who knows what?" Solan asked.

"I suppose it is," Jim said. "There's nothing else to say. McNeil, why don't you tell us more about this?"

"Just be ready for a long battle," McNeil answered. "The Nod do not give up easily, and if he can, Kane will detonate tiberium to prolong the battle. He believes he can bring peace through dominance, using the Scrin to eliminate everyone who disagrees with him."

"Maybe someone can convince him that that is not the answer."

"Could you convince Khan?" Bones asked.

Jim frowned. "Never mind. It was just a thought."

"The only way to convince Kane is to defeat him and make sure he doesn't escape to another regeneration chamber," Mac said. "If he does that, he will emerge again and cause all this trouble all over again. And we have to destroy Cabal."

"How do we do that?"

"That should be up to your computer guys."

Jim knew if it was possible to destroy Cabal, Artie would figure out how to do it. They all fell silent wondering what they were facing, and as they neared their destination, they could not help but notice the large spire which was the Nod temple reaching up toward the sky, but that was not all. There was also a wall around the perimeter of a large area of buildings. However, one thing they did not notice in time was SAM sites which were also around the perimeter of that wall.

"Evade!" Mac exclaimed.

Jim barely avoided the missiles as he rolled his ship to the left and righted it again. However, he was not so lucky the next time, and an alarm began blaring in the ship. "Jim, the right engine is on fire!" Carol said as she began using the controls to put out the fire.

Jim strained to keep the ship level. "Jim, are you guys okay?" Bones asked over the com.

"So far!" Jim replied. "Not sure I can keep flying like this."

Suddenly, another missile hit the ship and Jim lost control of the ship. Carol grabbed the co-pilot controls and they managed to keep from crashing head first into the ground, but they could not keep the ship up. They finally came to a jolting halt on the ground, barely missing a tree, although it took off the left wing of the craft.

Jim sat there a moment making sure he was still breathing. He looked at Carol. "Well, that was rough," he said.

"We have to get out of here!" Carol said.

They both hurried to the back of the ship, picking up hand combat weapons as they went. "We can't stay in here," Jim declared as he was strapping on a phaser. "Who knows what's coming?"

"I agree. Let's get out of here."

They went to the back of the ship and stopped at the boarding ramp. They looked at each other and kissed. "I love you no matter what happens," Jim said.

"And I love you," Carol replied.

Jim pressed the button to lower the boarding ramp, and suddenly, they were rocked by an explosion. They ran out of the ship before it exploded. They both fell and got up quickly. As they were running away from the wreckage of the ship, they saw a ship landing. It was not long until Solan exited the ship. "Admiral!" he exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"So far!" Jim replied. His communicator chirped. "Yeah!"

"Jim, are you two okay?" Bones asked.

"We're fine!"

Jim and the others were running to get to cover as they could see tanks coming that way. "How are we supposed to defeat something like that?" Solan asked.

"We'll have to let the ships take care of those," Jim replied. "Our business is to get into that fortress."

"Are you kidding? How are we supposed to do that?"

"Any way we can. Right now, they don't know where we are."

"Oh yeah? Well, those tanks are turning this way."

"Keep going!"

Carol, Solan, and Spock followed Jim toward the forest. Jim grabbed his communicator. "Scotty!"

"Yes, Sir," Scotty answered.

"Are those weapons systems up?"

"Almost, Sir."

"Hurry, Scotty. We need them now."

Just then, a blast from one of the tanks hit the ground close to them, and they were all knocked off their feet. Jim grabbed Carol and helped her up and they ran as fast as they could toward the forest. The got into the forest and then a blast from one of the tanks splintered some trees. They tried to avoid the splinters as they ran but it was impossible to avoid them all. "Scotty!" Jim yelled into the communicator.

"Hold on, Admiral," Mac said over the communicator. "I'm coming around."

Jim could hear Mac's ship as he passed overhead, and then he heard a loud explosion behind them. He hoped it was that tank, but he knew that was not the only tank. Just as they thought they were getting into a safer area, they heard someone yell, "Smash!"

Before Jim knew what was happening, someone…or something, knocked him down, and the force was so hard, Jim thought he saw stars. He heard Carol scream. Carol saw the being knock Jim down, and she grabbed her phaser rifle, but before she could fire it, the brute was hit with a blast from Solan's blaster. However, that was not the only one. Three more came through the forest from the direction of the temple. Jim was scrambling to get to his feet, but the brutes were fast and brutal.

Jim wondered if his leg was broken as one of them slammed its fist down into his leg, all the while it was yelling "smash" and "crush". He kept backing up as he was still on the ground. He aimed his phaser and stopped the one that was trying to smash him. He managed to get up and realized his leg was not broken but was terribly bruised. "Let's move!" he yelled as he was doing his best to head on into the forest.

Spock shot the last brute as they were following Jim. They stopped as they got into a group of trees. "Jim, is your leg okay?" Carol asked.

"No, but I'll make it," Jim replied. He checked the charge on his phaser. "That must have been the brutes he told us about."

"I agree, Admiral," Spock said. "What is your plan?"

"I'd like to know that too," Solan added.

"We have to get into that fortress," Jim said. "There has to be a place we can get in."

"That wall looks pretty solid."

"Well, there's always over."

"You can't think you can climb over that wall without any incident," Carol declared.

"We're gonna find the least guarded place first."

"This is how all our missions go," Solan said. "We just improvise. Jump in the middle and work our way out."

"I'm beginning to see that," Carol replied.

"You're the one who wanted to come on this mission," Jim declared.

"Yes, but I didn't know we were going on a suicide mission."

"It's not a suicide mission. We're doing this so we don't have to worry about some maniac bringing a bunch of bugs to the earth to destroy everything and make you and me and our children and everyone else on the planet into those creatures we just saw."

"What do you think is going to happen if we get into that fortress?"

"Hopefully we can stop them."

"You're a risk taker," Carol declared.

"No I'm not. I have to do what is necessary."

"You have two children who depend on you!"

"So do you!"

Solan did not think he had ever heard Jim and Carol argue before. Spock had heard them argue but he did not think this was the time. "Jim, I believe we should concentrate on the mission at hand," he said.

"We are, Spock," Jim replied with a warning tone. He looked at Carol. "Why don't we discuss this later?"

"Which most likely means we won't discuss it at all, if you're even still alive," Carol said. "Or even able to walk."

"You're with me!" Jim said as he stopped, causing Carol to almost run into him.

She looked up into his blue eyes. Solan looked from one to the other wondering what they were going to do. He thought they were two clashing personalities. "I'll be as careful as I can," Jim said. "Besides, we're together."

"I suppose I can't say much since I'm following you," Carol replied.

Jim touched a smudge on her cheek. "You look good with dirt on your face."

"Jim Kirk, get moving before I stun you."

Jim chuckled as he turned around and started on through the forest. He hoped Scotty had the weapons on the Enterprise ready by now. Solan blew out a breath. He hated it when Jim and Carol argued. Jim's communicator chirped. "Yeah," he answered.

"Are you guys alright?" Bones asked.

"So far. Where are you?"

"I'm on the ground coming through this forest."

"You're behind us?"

"Yeah."

Jim looked behind them and soon he saw Bones coming through the forest along with Korax, Grakar, Ajah, Helek, and Sulu. "I think we're all used to just running into a situation head-on instead of flying over it," Bones said in his usual sarcastic manner.

"It didn't do us much good to try and fly over it anyway," Jim replied. "You seen Mac?"

"No. Don't know where he ended up."

"Did he crash?"

"I do not believe so, Admiral," Grakar said.

"So what's the plan?" Helek asked.

"We're about to try and get into that fortress," Solan answered.

"I'm ready."

"How do we get inside, Admiral?" Ajah asked.

"First of all, we have to know what's in there," Jim replied as he was taking off the backpack he was carrying. He took out a small drone that would not be so noticeable and took out the control.

"Oh, so we're gonna know what we're jumping in the middle of before we go in this time, huh?" Bones asked as he squatted beside Jim.

Jim looked at him. "Don't start."

"Hey, it was just a question."

"Like all the questions you always ask."

"What's wrong with you? You get up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Bones."

Jim stood up as he switched on the controller for the drone. The drone rose from the ground and flew out toward the fortress. Jim moved it up slowly to look over the wall first. They could see that the temple was not the only thing within that wall. "They've got a whole base in there," Jim remarked. "How did they get all that so quickly?"

"Probably the same way they got the temple up that fast," Carol replied.

Ajah was staring at the screen as they watched what the drone could see. "What is that electrical thing there?" he asked.

"It appears to be what Mac referred to as a tesla coil," Spock said. "It is programmed to stop intruders by a lethal electrical shock."

"In other words, you're fried," Bones said. "So how are we supposed to get by that?"

"I'll be glad to deal with that," Helek said with his eyes glowing.

"As will I," Ajah added.

Jim looked to see if there was anything else that could damage them besides the coils. "Is that a gun turret?" he asked as he pointed to a short, round building.

"It is possible," Spock said.

"How do we find out though? If we trigger it, they'll all be alert."

"I do not believe it is going to be easy to get inside because the temple also has defenses and will make it difficult to disable any other defenses."

"I might can help with that," someone said from behind them.

Solan whirled around and had his blaster out in a second, but it was Anakin. "What did I tell you about sneaking up on people like that when they're in a tense situation?" Solan asked.

"So I don't learn fast," Anakin replied. "Whatever we're going to do, we need to get started. We're gonna have company real soon. They know you came into this forest."

Carol looked at Jim. "So, what's your plan, Admiral?" she asked.

"I'm working on it," Jim replied.

"You best hurry."

Jim frowned as he looked at the layout of the base they were about to barge into. "Anakin, do you think you can get in there without getting killed?" he asked.

Anakin looked at the layout. "I'm sure I can if Ajah and Helek take care of the coils," he said. "But as you said, the tower is going to be a problem."

Jim thought for a moment and then took out his communicator. "Scotty."

"Yes, Sir," Scotty answered.

"Those weapons up yet?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Can you target that temple?"

"Hold on a moment." Scotty was silent a moment. "That thing is heavily shielded. I guess that's why no one knew it was there."

"What about the weapons on it?"

"That I can do, Sir."

"Try and keep that thing occupied while we get over this wall."

"You're going in there, Sir?" Scotty asked sounding surprised.

"Yeah," Jim replied. "You got any better ideas?"

"No, but…"

"No buts. That's an order. We couldn't get to it by air, so we have to do something on the ground. I want you to take out as many of those tanks as you can. And scan that wall. Make sure there are no surprises."

"I'm scanning it now, Sir. There are laser turrets on that wall."

"Can you disable them?"

"No. They're heavily shielded just like the temple, and so is the wall. Sir, I don't know how you're gonna get over that wall."

"We'll figure that out, Scotty."

"They've also got some sort of dampener that seems to encompass the whole base except for the outer edges."

"So you can't really see what all is in there?"

"No."

"Well, we can, and it's a whole base. It must have been hidden just like the temple."

"How do you intend to get in there? You don't know everything that could be hiding in there."

"I have to get in touch with Mac to find out some more about it. We know some, but we weren't expecting to be in this situation especially without him."

"Let me know what you want me to do, Sir."

"Just take out some of those tanks, Scotty, for now."

"Yes, Sir."

Jim switched frequency on his communicator. "Mac," he said.

"Yeah," Mac answered. "I was wondering if you guys were still breathing."

"We are. How do we get into this place?"

"That won't be easy. The tanks have a better chance, but they're not here yet."

"How long?"

"Maybe two or three more hours. It's not a quick journey sometimes."

"Okay, well, isn't there another way?"

"I don't think we could do it without casualties. We would have to take out the tesla coils.

"I think we can handle those. Anything else?"

"The SAM sites won't be able to shoot us on the ground. They're only for the air."

"So, the only thing we really need to figure out is how to get through that wall."

"Which is not going to be easy because that wall has laser mounts and can be electrified."

Jim frowned. "If it's electrified, Helek and Ajah can short it out," he said.
"Can they take that much? I mean, this is a ten-foot wall."

Jim looked at Helek and Ajah. "What do you guys think?" he asked.

"Admiral, I work in the central power core," Helek reminded him. "Do you have any idea how many volts that is?"

Jim scowled. "No. How many?"

"A whole lot."

"Oh brother," Bones groaned. "What is your plan, Jim? We have to get something moving. They're gonna eventually find us out here."

"Alright," Jim said. "Maybe the wall is in sections. If you guys can take out that wall even in one section, maybe we can get over it."

"What about the weapons on the temple?" Carol asked. "And the tesla coils?"

"We're gonna get to that."

Bones looked from Carol to Jim. He had never seen them so short with each other. Jim noticed him looking at them. "Bones," he said. "Let's keep our minds on this mission."

"My mind is on this mission," Bones replied.

Just then, they heard a loud explosion that jarred the ground. "That was close!" Bones said.

"Admiral, we should move from this area," Grakar suggested. "Perhaps there's a cave near here."

"I believe there is," Spock said. "I have located a cave on the tricorder."

"Let's move then," Jim replied.

They all followed Spock to the cave which was not very far from the base. "At least we're hidden in here," Solan said. "So what do we do first?"

Jim was pacing back and forth already as he was thinking. "They may be expecting us to try something," he said.

"But would they expect us to try this?" Solan asked.

"I don't know." Jim continued to pace. "First thing is to deactivate the wall in at least one section," he said. "Once we have that, we'll see if we can locate the laser turrets. The wall just may be what's causing the dampening field."

"You could be right," Carol agreed. "If they short it out, it could help Mister Scott to be able to take out some of the buildings."

"I have the charges to blow up some of the buildings, but we'll have to take out that Nod temple from the inside. First, we have to get to it. Ajah and Helek can get control of two of the tesla coils and turn them against their own. Anakin, can you take out that gun turret?"

Anakin took his lightsaber off his side. "With pleasure," he said. "And I might not even have to use this. If I can feel how the thing is put together, I might be able to disrupt it."

"Do whatever you can. Once we can get past all that, we're gonna get inside that Nod temple."

"Admiral, I have been studying the wall," Spock said. "And it is a double wall. The inside wall is made of stone, but the outside wall is electrified and enhanced with lasers."

"Okay, so we have to get through two walls. If we can get to the wall, we can set charges to blow a hole in it."

"Then what?" Bones asked.

"Then we're gonna go ahead with our plan. We have to."

"You have to be careful of the tiberium," Mac said over the communicator. "If you come in contact with it, you'll be a mutant, or you'll be dead. I am detecting tiberium growing within the wall. They're most likely trying to get enough to create an explosion big enough to draw the Scrin to Earth."

"Well, there's another barrier," Bones said. "How do we get past that?"

"It can't be everywhere," Jim replied.

"You are correct, Jim," Spock said as he was analyzing more with the tricorder. "It is not everywhere, but they seem to be harvesting it."

"Harvesting it?"

"Yeah," Mac said over the communicator. "And if we destroy the place where they're storing it, it will create the explosion they want."

"So where are they storing it?"

"Just take a guess."

Jim frowned. "The temple?"

"You guessed it. If we destroy the very thing we have to destroy, we're going to create the tiberium explosion and it's going to start the whole thing over again. You can't imagine."

"Then how do we stop them?"

"We have to just take them out instead of the building and then find a way to destroy that tiberium without causing an explosion."

Just then, there was another loud explosion. "Hey, you best tell your ship up there not to fire into that base," Mac said.

Jim switched the frequency. "Scotty!"

"Yes Sir," Scotty answered.

"Stop firing into the base."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah. They have tiberium in there. They want us to create the explosion they want."

Scotty's mouth dropped open. "You mean the explosion that would bring the bug creatures to the earth?"

"Yeah, that explosion," Jim said.

"What can we do, Sir?"

"Just take out those tanks outside the base, Scotty. We're gonna figure out how to get inside."

"Yes sir."

Jim ended that transmission and began pacing again as he switched back to Mac. "Well, what do you suggest?" Jim asked.

"Like you said, we have to find a way in without blowing up that temple," Mac said. "We do have equipment that can eliminate the tiberium on the ground, but the stores are refined and are the most dangerous."

"This is getting worse all the time," Bones declared.

"Admiral, I do believe your plan was a good one," Spock said. "If we can get through the wall, we can get to the temple without destroying it, but we may take it over."

"That's what we'll have to do unless that moron in there tries to set off an explosion."

"Where are you guys?" Mac asked.

"We're in a cave. I can send you the coordinates."

"Thanks."

Mac stared at the coordinates. "I'm on the other side of the compound from you," he said. "Why don't you let me know your plan, and I'll meet you at the site of entry?"

"That's fine," Jim replied. He looked at Spock. "Where's the best place?"

Spock was analyzing the data again. "I believe the front entrance would actually be the best place…if one would call it the front. There is another entrance which I would call the back, but that is where most of the tiberium is located in a field."

"They wouldn't expect us to come that way then," Jim said. "Would our electro-suits protect us?"

Spock seemed to be a little dumbfounded by that question. "There's no guarantee that they will," Carol said. "You can't risk that."

"I know," Jim replied. "There must be a way to get through it."

"It is not a solid field, Jim," Spock said. "I believe we could make our way around it if we get in through the back entrance."

"What about weapons back there?"

"They do have the tesla coils on each side of the entrance. I do believe there is also a gun turret further in. Also there are the lasers all around the stone wall."

"Right." Jim paced while he was thinking. "We'll have to short out that wall." He looked at Ajah and Helek. "You think you can do that safely?"

"I'm sure we can, Admiral," Helek said.

"Alright, once they short out that wall, we have to act fast and get through that wall. How do we do that?"

"I think I could probably help," someone said.

They were all startled as they whirled around. Jim could not believe his eyes when he saw Mac…not McNeil, standing in the cave. He still looked just as menacing as he ever had when he was a bounty hunter trying to kidnap Jim. "What are you doing here?" Solan asked as he held his blaster on Mac.

"I brought him," someone else said.

Zander came into the cave. He still had those chiseled features that he always had. "We were on Earth and heard what was going on here," he said.

Jim thought he was completely dumbfounded but the others were waiting for him to say something. "Why should we trust Mac?" he finally asked.

Mac stepped forward, and so did Solan. "That's close enough," Solan said. "Until we find out your intensions."

"Solan," Jim said. "Just relax."

Ajah was also standing beside Jim with his eyes glowing. "Look, you don't have any reason to trust me," Mac said. "But I've realized you did what you had to do. I'm sorry for all the trouble and pain I caused all of you."

Jim thought he might have fainted if being flabbergasted could cause it. Bones looked at Jim. "Well?" he said.

Jim was not sure what to say. He looked at Zander, and he knew Zander was no traitor. Jim nodded. "Okay," he said and offered his hand to Mac.

Mac just stood there a moment and then shook Jim's hand. "I'll get you through that gate," he said.

"How?" Jim asked.

"I can get in anywhere, remember? I can also help your friend Artie find that computer virus or whatever it is."

"How do you know about that?"

"We stopped by and talked to Admiral Winston," Zander said. "We were actually looking for you to talk to you, and they told us you were over here."

"And you just decided to pop in?" Jim asked.

"Something like that."

"How did you find us in this cave?"

"Look, we can stand here and keep discussing this and asking questions that can be asked later," Mac said. "We don't want these crazy people taking over this planet."

"Nor do I," someone else said.

This time, Kuaya stood in the mouth of the cave with his great wings behind him. "How did you get here?" Jim asked.

"I flew in," Kuaya replied.

"You can't fly into that place. They have air defenses."

"I realize this, but I am a quick flyer. After all, I have bird reflexes."

"I think this team is getting too big," Bones declared.

"Bones, don't be rude," Jim said quietly. "The more people we have, the better chances we have."

"If you say so."

"You got a computer somewhere?" Mac asked.

"No," Jim said. "We have to get in there another way. Ajah and Helek are going to short out the outside wall and then we have to get through the stone wall."

"I can cut through that easily," Anakin said. "My lightsaber will cut it."

"Good. Once that gate is down, we have to let Ajah and Helek get in there to those tesla coils because they can use them to defend us. It seems like there's not as much defense at the back. I guess they're not expecting anyone to come in through the back since it's so close to that mountain."

"Won't they be surprised?" Anakin asked.

"We have to move quickly," McNeil said over the communicator. "That outside wall won't be down for long since the power conduits will replenish it fast."

"So we need to get rid of those power conduits," Jim said. "We have explosives."

"Right, but you also have to watch out for the obelisk."

"The what? I know you went over all this but it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah. Well, the obelisk is a laser weapon, and it can destroy a tank with one shot sometimes, but if you get up close to it, it can't hit you."

"Right. We'll just have to deal with that when we get in there. Meet us at the back of the wall."

"Roger."

Jim and his team made sure their phasers were ready. "Alright, everybody, this is probably the most dangerous mission we ever went on," he said. "Let's all try to get in there and get out alive."

Jim turned to leave the cave, but Carol grabbed his hand. She kissed him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Jim replied.

They all ran out of the cave and headed for the back of the base where they did not know what to expect, but they knew the enemy was not expecting them to come in that way…