Pavel Andreivich Chekov had never been humiliated to that degree before in his entire life. Spock had just written him off as an inexperienced kid in front of the entire Enterprise bridge crew, those who he had considered his family. He had always thought they held him in high regard-or, they had never let on to anything otherwise. So then why had none of them defended him? Uhura was the only one who bothered to even try to stop Spock in his unjust characterization, but then, Uhura always looked out for him. No one else, not even Hikaru, had tried to stick up for him. Why was it that when he needed someone most, they were never there for him? His father, his brother, now not even his best friend cared about him. What was he even doing in Starfleet? What was the point anymore?

Chekov's foot met the wall before his was even aware, and he fell back onto his bed in both pain and frustration. Tears were leaking out of his eyes, and he cursed himself for it. As childish as it felt, he couldn't help but think that this was unfair. He was required to have experience, but no one wanted to be saddled with him, to take him out to achieve said experience. How could he get anywhere if no one would allow him to? He winced, rubbing the toes that had hit the wall. That was going to bruise, he bet. The tears in his eyes were drying, leaving sticky trails of their wake upon his face.

He stood, going to the mirror quickly. He appraised his appearance, turning his head in different directions to see it from each perspective. He had grown older, he thought. His face was not so chubby anymore, like a child's. Now he had grown into his angular bones and large eyes. How could Spock see a young kid when he looked down at him? Just because he didn't have prematurely forming wrinkles didn't mean he was some sort of juvenile! But how could he get anyone to see that? There had to be some way to prove himself, to show them that he wasn't as inexperienced as they all claimed him to be.

The idea came to him in a rush, and it seemed crazy at first. There was no way he'd be able to pull it off. They would catch him before he even got to the transporter room, and it would be done. He'd lose the last shred of respect he still had aboard the ship. It would be stupid to even try... or was it? If he could actually succeed in this foolish, desperate scheme, it might show the rest of them that he was more than just the kid, more than just the "baby" of the ship. It might even show Spock that he was wrong, and that in itself was more motivation than Pavel needed. To see the look on that stuck-up Vulcan's face when he realized that Chekov was much more than he gave him credit for filled him with ambition, and it was then that he knew he had to go through with his plan. If this didn't prove that he deserved to held to the Enterprise's prestigious level, then nothing in this galaxy or any other would.

Pavel sprang from his bed with renewed vigor, grabbing a phaser gun from his bedside counter. It had been damaged by another crewmember, who had left Chekov in charge of repairing it. He had done so, the gun being fully operational now, but Pavel had never gotten the chance to return it to him. Now he regarded this as pure luck, and tucked the gun into his belt, pulling his shirt down over it in an attempt to conceal it. The door to his compartment slid open and shut as he exited, and his next step was to make sure no one else could get in. He punched in a code at the lock screen beside the door, setting up a temporary lock, so that the door would not open for anyone else once he was gone. He wasn't sure if anyone else on board had discovered how to do this yet, and he hadn't told anyone - such were the advantages of being a prodigy.

He knew that this sort of thing could get him a suspension from Starfleet. The logical side of him was crying on the inside, and it took everything he had not to turn back and go to bed. Being a member of Starfleet meant the world to him - but being cast aside and regarded as nothing more than a child was not what he pictured himself as when he was aboard the Enterprise. Kirk himself had done a few rebellious things, like hacking the Kobayashi Maru test, and yet he had earned his place as Captain. Chekov knew that his chances were slim, but this was a now or never sort of thing. Either they would be forced to recognize him as a full member of the crew, or he would sit back and let them ridicule him. If he spent another year aboard the ship being treated like a child, he would eventually resign - and he didn't want to do that. All he wanted was a little bit of respect, and he knew that wasn't so hard to ask for.

Heading on his way to the transporter room, he thought over all that he would need. He didn't know much about this planet they were approaching. The only thing he was sure of was that it was a Class M planet acting hostile towards the Federation. They'd handled negotiations like this plenty of times before. He'd witnessed quite a few, overhearing everything from the bridge. Stopping at a computer, he tapped at the screen until it brought up their current position and information of the planet. It was mainly a small planet, covered in some sort of forestation from what Pavel could see. The inhabitants must live somewhere underground, or perhaps their position on the planet did not register on the thermal map. He couldn't see any sign of life at all. Perhaps this was just a group or someone working alone who had found the planet, taken over, and looked for some sort of trouble to start with Starfleet. Either way, Pavel knew he couldn't bring too much with him. It would look too suspicious to anyone he might pass onboard the Enterprise, and it wouldn't look too good on the planet, either. These were peace negotiations he was trying to establish, and bringing some sort of plethora of weapons would not help at all in his efforts to do so.

Deciding the phaser would be all that he could afford to take with him, he continued down the hallway, which was unusually empty. Pavel regarded this as a gift, of course-the less people he saw, the less questions he would have to answer, and the less lies he would have to tell. No one could know that he was doing this, as they would just stop him. They would tell him it was too dangerous, that he wasn't ready. Pavel knew he was ready, and he didn't need anyone to tell him what he could and couldn't do. The lack of company in the hallway had caused him to let his guard down for a moment, and he therefore jumped in surprised as he got to the transporter room only to find Montgomery Scott sitting at the controls.

"Oi! Chekov, lad, what are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be up at the bridge?" he questioned as he saw him, smiling but looking slightly confused. Chekov grinned instinctively in return, frantically thinking up a scenario in his mind before finally settling one that was actually believable. He hated to think that he was about to lie to the man who he considered a mentor, but he knew it was necessary to be able to beam down.

"Aye, yes, sir. Actually, I was just looking for you. I already looked in engineering, and you were not zere, so I was checking other places on ze ship. Keptin Kirk wanted me to give you a message," he explained, hoping Scotty wouldn't catch the nervous tone in his voice.

"And what would that be?" the elder man turned in his chair to face the boy, sounding curious. "Why wouldn't he just use the ship communicators?"

"I don't know, sir, he wouldn't tell me and I didn't want to question orders," Chekov shrugged, trying to seem casual and yet just as confused as Scotty looked. "But he said to tell you that he needs to see you in medbay right away."

"Medbay? I think Kirk's finally on his rocker! Must still be that radiation," Scotty joked. "Did he say what for?"

"I zink he wants to tell you something about ze mission... he, Mister Spock, and Miss Uhura are being looked over before zey are beamed down and I guess he couldn't wait!" Chekov smiled wider at Kirk's supposed impatience. "But if you don't mind my asking, Mister Scott, what were you doing here?"

"Ah, lad, I was just tinkering with the transporters. I heard about what happened with Spock's mother, so I was trying to see if there was anything I could do to make them more efficient and... I don't know," Scotty admitted, glancing down at the control panel and taking off the eyepiece he had been wearing. Chekov felt frozen in place at his words. He hadn't thought about the events surrounding the destruction of Vulcan for a long time, it was too painful. For a moment, he let his mind wander. Was that perhaps part of the reason Spock held such a grudge against him? Did he think of him as too much of a child to handle transporting? He couldn't help it, he had just lost her, she had moved - but he still felt responsible. It was almost like he'd killed her himself, instead of Nero. Scotty's face fell, seeming to notice the change in the boy's attitude.

"Chekov? Pavel? Are you alright?" he asked, concern more than evident in his voice. Pavel shook his head at the sound, trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand.

"Um, yes, sir, it is nothing. Just tired, excuse me." He apologized, snapping himself out of it.

Scotty looked sympathetic. "Long day in the bridge, ay? Captain seems very relaxed, but I bet that pointy eared one runs ya down." He laughed, referencing Spock. They had never seemed to have an issue, the engineer and the first officer, but no one could help getting a little jab in when time called for it. The Vulcan was definitely an annoying person, from the crew's perspective, but not unbearable.

"Yes, ze Keptin is always kind." Chekov nodded in agreement, slightly distracted as he looked at the controls of the transporter. Nothing had changed since he had last been there, but he became slightly concerned. He thought back to the incident on Vulcan, and he sighed.

"Right, well," Scotty shrugged, noting the boy's disturbance but not commenting. "I'll be off then, laddy. Thank ya for telling me." He clapped the boy on the back and maneuvered around him, the doors of the transporter room swishing shut. Chekov watched him go before turning back to the transporting platforms. Now that he was actually here, the prospect of what he was about to do seemed more daunting than it had back in his room. He was about to beam down onto a planet that had who-knows-what there with nothing but a phaser for protection. The thought of what could happen to him if he wasn't careful was almost enough to send Pavel back to his room and forget the whole thing, but he knew he had to go through with his plan. It was the only way to get the respect he knew he deserved-he couldn't go back to the bridge with the knowledge that he let his chance pass him by. So, with the thought of proving them wrong as his motivation, Pavel stepped onto the platform and spoke one word.

"Energize."