STAR TREK STARBASE 248 1x06 Until the Last Chapter 5: Act 4CreditsPreview, a startrek: other fanfic

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ACT IV

Kim couldn't place it, but he did see the Negarani's real face somewhere before too. "Weren't you with..."

"J'dan!" McGawan called out. "You're Secretary Deputy J'dan for Soliel's Cabinet!"

The militant said nothing. His black hair settled to the deck, as his Elani features came through on the light. "Ex Secretary Deputy," J'dan corrected. "I retired after Elan left the Federation."

"Does Soliel know the Negarani are Elani?" Kim wondered.

J'dan shook his head. "I'm not answering your questions!"

"I spent some time on Elan during the Dominion War," McGawan recalled. "Negarani...Elani..."

"It's the name of an ancient tribe from my world," J'dan said. "We ruled the galaxy at one point in history. When the Federation came... our time was done."

"We can get a history lesson at your interrogation," McGawan said, hoisting J'dan up to his feet. "You're coming with us." And with that, he put J'dan's d'artag to J'dan's throat. "Or we'll cut your head off. Mister Kim!"

Kim openned the door. "Take us to your leader." Wow, that sounded so 1920's, Kim thought, as McGawan lead J'dan to the bridge.

The guards automatically stepped aside as McGawan lead a maskless, bleeding-from-the-neck J'dan into the bridge room of the transport. There, the Negarani Alpha turned slowly and almost chuckled. "You are persistant, Captain. And strong. You would do well in the Negarani."

"Save it," McGawan said. "It's over."

"I don't think so," the Alpha said, holding up a remote control. "This is a control padd, which controls six sticks of powerful tricobalt explosives, which are attached to the warp core. If you don't let this man go, I will blow us all away."

"You won't let this man die without his honor, would you?" McGawan said, piercing the knife just enough to draw blood from J'dan's neck. J'dan didn't squirm but met his coming fate head-on... so to speak.

"If he were to die without his honor," the Alpha said, "it will not be at your hands."

A proximity signal sounded. Two other guards checked the sensors, and reported to the Alpha.

Then, the Alpha turned to McGawan. The Alpha shot, and killed, J'dan, and was left with McGawan to deal with. "Now that it doesn't matter anymore," the Alpha said, he activated the control padd. As McGawan charged, three guards held him down. "When your vessel enters into transporter range, there will be no one to rescue. This ship will go up in... three minutes."

"Four minutes to intercept," Dallas reported at the helm.

"C'mon!" Wing said, as he stepped out of the command chair, and came up right behind Dallas. "Go to warp point-eight."

"Increasing speed," Dallas said, using the warp drive to propell the ship. "Two minutes, forty-eight seconds to intercept."

Wing hit his combadge. "Bridge to sickbay, prepare to receive casualties. Transporter room, standby to beam aboard survivors."

A new group of readings appeared. "We've got a problem," Dallas said. "I'm picking up a massive buildup in the Mushorian's engine core. Consistent with a tricobalt explosive. We don't have any time left..."

Wing closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He turned away from the viewscreen, and headed back for his chair. "May Buddah give peace to the dead..." After the prayer, he said: "Transporter room, get a lock on any human biosigns and beam them directly to sickbay. Top priority."

Just as the Northstar entered into transporter range, the Mushorian transport went up, destroyed from the inside out...

And McGawan watched, as he got out of the turbolift, in horror, as the Mushorian transport was obliterated. "Any hope of survivors?"

Doc chased Kim out of the lift, after McGawan took command of his ship. There were still draperies on the bridge, covering incomplete duty stations. Kim found a science station, and scanned the debris.

As he scanned, Wing surrendered command to McGawan with: "It's good to see you, Sir."

"Hold on," McGawan said. "Harry?"

Kim came back out, shaking his head. "No one, Sir. I am reading organic fragments only, most of it imbedded into the hull fragments that are left over. But..."

"So pointless," McGawan said, shaking his head in somber thought. "To hunt a species to extinction and for what? A mass genocide for what reason? Because of us?"

"Captain?" Dallas broke. "Should I set a course for Stoma? There could be survivors there at least—"

McGawan shook his head. "Stoma is in Negarani Space now. We don't have the resources, with an incomplete starship, to go after any survivors. When the Gulfstream gets back, I'll send Captain Daniels out there. This is just incredibly pathetic." McGawan felt the pain of yet another failure on his record. "I should've been killed with them..."

"We did all we could-"

"Did we?" McGawan faced off with Kim. "Did we really do what we could to save these people?"

A beat of odd silence followed.

McGawan shook his head. "We should've done more. I could have done more. But..." Another beat. "We didn't do anything to save them." He shook his head. "So sad..."

Again, Dallas broke an awkward silence. "What are your orders, Captain?"

McGawan sighed, taking the command chair. "There's nothing more we can do here, except make a report to Starfleet Command. So, that being the case in point, Crewman, set your course back to base."

"Aye, Captain." Dallas turned about at his station and complied.

STOMA

Three Weeks Later...

"Over here!"

Stuffed in EVA suits, the away team from the Gulfstream combed the debris of the capitol city of Stoma. Commander Jennifer O'Riley scanned the area with a tricorder, and found something. As a few crewmembers came by, the helped to move some debris. And they found a sealed entry way.

O'Riley scanned the inside of the entry way. "The air is still pure down there! Away team to Gulfstream. Can you get a tranporter lock inside this entrance?" She uploaded the information to the Gulfstream.

Onboard, Captain Nicolai Daniels had a science officer run a scan of the entry. As the officer nodded, Daniels approved. "We'll beam you back to the ship and take you through the biofilters before setting you down inside that entrance. Understood?"

O'Riley readied herself. "Standing by, Captain."

STARBASE 248

Three Days Later...

"Report!"

As McGawan came into Ops, Kim put a situation display on the viewscreen. "We just got this from Captain Daniels. They're under attack, and they're coming here at high warp."

"What's he doing?"

"Trying to get us to support him," Wing surmised.

"Well, that puts us in a bad position," McGawan said. "Once the Gulfstream is in range, bring the shields up. Red alert!"

Six ships dropped out of warp. The Gulfstream came out, along with five Negarani attack friggates. They all started to open fire on the station. However, the station fought back with some quantom torpedoes that destroyed three friggates, leaving two left with the Gulfstream. They, however, got smart... and headed out of the system.

After the Gulfstream docked with the station, Doc and a hand full of station medics rushed to the Gulfstream's sickbay, with McGawan and Daniels close behind, walking slowly.

"It wasn't easy," Daniels was saying to McGawan as they walked down the corridor. "We got into the system, and were attacked. We fended them off, but they came back in a much larger force. We took out four of them before we were able to make it to warp... barely."

"What did you find?" McGawan wondered.

"Well..."

Daniels lead McGawan into a cargo bay. There, ship's medics were treating what seemed like almost thousands of refugees. "I thought..."

But really, the number was: "We found 400 in a makeshift shelter. Mostly, they were construction workers and lucky bastards who found their way underground. Mostly men, too. Almost no women. And what women there were..."

"You mean..."

"This species will be extinct in 20 years, give or take a month or two," Daniels said, somberly. "But at least some will have a chance."

"This just punctuates what the Negarani did to these people," McGawan said. "And what they are capable of. I will never underestimate them again, Nick. Never." At that moment, he turned to Daniels. "We need help out here, and we need it badly. When I make my report to Command, it's not going to be pretty."

"Whatever I can do to help," Daniels said.

"I appreciate it," McGawan noted. "Believe me, we need all the help out here if we're going to clean this place up."

McGawan glanced inside of the crowded cargo bay. Still, so many refugees... and yet, the end of a species. Most are still sick, or showing symptoms of the pleague that the Negarani spread on Stoma.

The Negarani... a ruthless enemy. With no regard for life itself. It is the mission of Starbase 248 to rid the Negarani menace. Looking at what happened here over the last month, McGawan believed, it's as clear as ever now, that the Federation is needed here. As long as terror haunts this sector... McGawan will be there to defeat it. One way... or another.

Executive Producer

Man of Trek Lore

Cast

Bruce McGawan

Kaori Nakajima

Harry Kim

Tao Xan Nu Wing

Michael Dallas

Special Guests

Negarani Militants

J'dan

Pax Gul

Tan Shul

Attendant

Mer Ila

STAR TREK
STARBASE 248

Executive Producer
Man of Trek Lore

Executive Consultant
Midnight Dove

Main Characters Created by
Man of Trek Lore

Based upon "STAR TREK" Created by
Gene Roddenberry

STAR TREK

Executive Producer
Rick Berman
Brannon Bragga
Manny Coto

This is a work of FICTION. Any or all events portrayed in this story are
made up of FICTIONAL elements. Any simililarity to actual events, or
living people, is entirely coincidental.

STAR TREK is ©1966-2004 Paramount Pictures. This work is a work of FAN- MADE FICTION. It is made for the sole purpose of entertaining the fans, ONLY. No profit is being sought by the release of this production. As a work of FAN FICTION, the production staff is NOT affiliated with Paramount Television, Pictures, or any departement that deals officially with STAR
TREK production.

No copyright infringement intended.

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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF

STAR TREK

STARBASE 248

A blockade Begins!

When Starfleet gets wind of this, through Starbase 248, Starfleet orders a contingent of its resources diverted to 248, as more worlds begin to hit the poverty line. Thusly, he orders the launch of a totally refitted, re-vamped, ready-to-kick-ass U.S.S. Northstar. When the Negarani attempt to attack the Northstar, all hell breaks lose. Can McGawan manage to undo the blockade?

Find out on the next episode of

STAR TREK STARBASE 248