I do not own Star Trek or anything to do with said franchise. However, I own Alianna Lordeck and co-own Sindari Lordeck and this plot. This fic is based on the new movie, and thus, takes place in the alternate universe of the movie. It's rated for lots of bad language and some sexual scenes (let's face it, it is Captain Kirk we're talking about), and violence and some drinking. You know, standard stuff. Should be lots of fun and I apologize in advance if any of the information about Star Trek is wrong. I've tried to do research, but hey, with eleven movies, five live-action shows and one animated show, along with multiple books and such, getting all the facts straight is kind of hard. Anyways, enjoy.
Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Chapter Sixteen: Charge.
Throughout the blaring of the klaxons and the flashing of the intense red lights, Alianna's bright green eyes rarely left the view screen. Her gaze and her thoughts were glued somewhere out there, where the Klingon ship limped through space ahead of them, where the fight was going to take place. She was itching to fight—there was a knot of apprehension between her shoulder blades—and she wasn't the only one feeling the tension, the lust for violence, the impatience. Across the bridge, the more mild-mannered Lordeck sister was equally wound, Sindari's fingers wrapped tightly around the edges of her console and her foot tapping against the base of the console, the clicking almost inaudible beneath the alarm. It was an expected state for Alianna, whose stay aboard the Enterprise had been full of flashes of her hot temper, but for Sindari, the anger on her face was a new expression. But they both wanted this to be over, as did everyone else on the starship.
Alianna pulled her eyes away from the viewer to cast a look around the bridge. She took her sister's anger with a grimace—the last time Sindari had gotten that angry, she'd almost killed herself. The Lordeck sisters both had a temper, but Sindari was far better at controlling it. For a moment, as Alianna continued her survey of the bridge, her eyes met the Captain's and she pulled away, the tension in her body escalating that much more, but for very different reasons. Knowing that moment wasn't the time, she looked down at her console screen and brought up the sensor images, satisfied to see the Klingon ship was closer than it had been the last time she'd looked—five minutes ago. She was also satisfied to see icons indicating the starships Raven and Destiny on the Enterprise's flank; as much as she wanted to fight, she was glad for the reinforcements. Klingons were no easy target, even when they were as ruined as they were. She closed the screen and turned her eyes back to the stars in front of the ship.
She began to tap her fingers in an impatient rhythm against the edge of her console.
"Commander Lordeck."
She turned and faced the centre chair, the knot between her shoulders contracting again; it made her back hurt. "Yes Captain?" she asked in a tight voice, forcing herself to meet Kirk's blue eyes.
"I need you to assemble and prepare an away team."
Alianna remained frozen for a moment, the command catching her off guard; not because it was outside her job description, but because she'd been so focused on the Klingon ship, wherever it was ahead of them. "Yes sir," she said finally.
One of the red-shirted ensigns appeared to take over the security station and Alianna headed to the back of the bridge, into the turbolift and down to the main transporter room, all the while going over a mental list of crew members she thought would be qualified for the job. She didn't need to wait for further instruction, because she'd get it when she was down in the transporter room, but she had a pretty good idea of what the plan was anyway. There were only so many courses of action against Klingons. On the way down, she decided to stop by her room and grab the data PADD she had with a list of the crew and their training. She mentally cursed herself for not thinking to have this on hand earlier. As she made her way once again to the transporter room, she scanned the list and assembled her away team.
Outside the transporter room—which was a much less tense and crowded area than the bridge, which Alianna enjoyed—the young officer paged the selected crewmen and told them to come armed and ready. As she waited for the team to assemble, she walked to a panel on the wall and keyed in the command that would link her directory to Kirk at his chair.
"Captain," she said.
"What is it Commander?"
"I take it I'm waiting down here for you to give the order? When diplomacy doesn't work, that is."
There was a bit of a sigh. "Yes, Commander Lordeck, that is the plan. You will take the away team over as the first wave and I will follow with Doctor McCoy, and Lieutenants Sulu and Lordeck. We're aiming to take them alive, Lordeck. We need to find out all we can about this weapon."
"Understood, sir. And if we engage them in ship to ship combat?"
"Your sister and Chekov can handle the weapons and tactical commands, Lordeck. You prep that away team and be ready to board that ship as soon as I give the word."
Alianna looked over her shoulder at the approaching crewmen and set her jaw. "We will be, sir."
"Good."
The intercom clicked off and Alianna turned to face the small group of people that had formed in the hall around her. All of them were armed and most of them looked ready to fight and angry. A couple looked scared. Seeing the expression in their faces, the panic and tension inside Alianna was replaced by excitement. She was ready to fight. She was eager to fight. She was ready to fight the Klingons, and she was ready to fight for her crew and her ship.
That thought stopped her. When had the Enterprise become her crew and her ship? When had the flagship taken the place of the Marissa?
Oh well, she told herself. Thoughts for another time.
Alianna turned her attention to the away team and put on her best stern face, which was pretty darn good. "We are waiting for the Captain's order to beam over to the Klingon ship. When we get there, our aim is to take them alive, so set your phasers to stun and don't change that setting unless it is absolutely necessary." She pulled her bright green eyes through the crowd, connecting with each gaze in turn. They all met her gaze. "No one ventures off alone. Everyone will have someone else's back. These are Klingons and they will kill you if they get the chance, so don't give them that chance."
There were curt nods all around. Alianna was impressed by the professionalism of the away team, but as they filed into the transporter room to await the Captain's command, a savage grin split her face. She followed the away team into the transporter room and took her place in the middle of the platform, forcing the smile away. No reason to freak out the newbies.
As the Enterprise drew within hailing range of the Klingon vessel, Kirk signalled to Uhura. "Hail them on every channel," he said without pulling his eyes from the image of the ship on the screen. The young captain leaned on one arm of his chair and waited for what he knew the response would be.
"No response, Captain."
He sighed. "Hail them again."
"Still no response, and they are receiving." Uhura spun in her chair and levelled her dark brown eyes at Kirk, face serious. "Captain, talking to them is not going to work."
"They are powering weapons, Keptin," Chekov announced from the tactical console in front of the command chair. "Regular phasers and torpedoes armed, sir."
"Sulu, drop back but stay in range; Lordeck, ready phasers, all banks. Chekov, make sure our shields are up and at full power." The orders left his lips confident, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind: they had just repaired the ship, and there hadn't been much time to ensure the repaired systems were stable, and though Kirk had every faith in his crew that they would do their best to keep the ship running and keep themselves alive, it was hard to remain completely positive.
"Phasers ready, Captain."
"Shields are up, Keptin."
The young Captain sighed. "Are they still ignoring our hails, Uhura?"
"Yes sir."
"Signal the Raven and the Destiny—"
Kirk didn't get the chance to vocalize the last part of his thought. Phaser fire rocked the ship three times in quick succession, but the shields held and the Enterprise recovered quickly, advancing on the Klingon vessel, Chekov taking the order to fire at will seriously. The other starships followed suit, coming around the sides of the enemy ship, phasers and torpedoes flashing through the black void of space. The Federation vessels attempted to box the Klingons in, but the derelict vessel limped out of range, firing from its aft phaser banks, the beams of light going wild and not hitting anything; their guidance systems didn't seem to be functioning as well as they should have been.
"Main power still at one-hundred percent!" Scotty's voice said through the noise.
The Captain of the Enterprise said a silent thank you to his chief engineer for being enough on top of things to be able to still give in a report, especially since the engineer on the bridge was young and looked like he was about to run screaming. The Enterprise rocked again, the last barrage of weapons fire making it through the shields and hitting the outer hull and sending many of the crew to the deck, hard, including the young engineer who actually did scream. Kirk grimaced as he pulled himself back into an upright position on his chair, the red alert klaxons beginning to hurt his head.
"Shields?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Down, Captain! The shields have failed!" Sulu was eagerly trying to get the ship to respond. "Navigation is not responding either."
Come on, Kirk thought at his ship. "Come on..." he whispered.
On the viewer, the bridge crew of the Enterprise watched the Raven, the smallest of the three Federation vessels, speed ahead and make it around the other side of the Klingon vessel, whose warp engines were offline. Bright stars of torpedo fire erupted from the front of the starship, striking the alien ship.
It was dead in space.
Krang pulled the now bloody bat'leth from his side, screaming as he did so. Somebody's weapon had come loose under the last barrage of fire and pierced the Captain's side, but he was fine. The same could not, however, be said for his ship. The bridge was full of smoke and there was an orange flickering coming from somewhere that spoke of fire. Red alert alarms were blaring in all their harsh, honking glory and Krang just knew some of the critical systems were failing; shields and warp engines being the least of the Klingons' worries.
Purple blood streaming down his side, Krang pushed himself to his feet and peered around the bridge. Many sets of eyes stared back, waiting for their orders. "We are Klingons! We do not run from battle! We will stand and fight!"
The bridge crew roared with acceptance and excitement.
"To your stations and prepare to fight back! When they board this ship, we will slaughter them all!" He turned towards the lowest ranking member on the bridge, pointed one gnarled finger at the young warrior and turned his mouth up in a nasty snarl. "Bring me the human."
"Captain!" Alianna yelled into the intercom speaker. "We need to get over there!"
"Hold on Lordeck! We're not within range yet! Get on the transporter and wait!"
Alianna pulled her thumb off the button and scowled audibly. The transporter technician raised an eyebrow at her behaviour but wisely didn't say anything and just watched the green-eyed officer return to her place at the head of the away team, her hands on her phaser belt, the fingers of her right hand playing idly over the handle of her weapon. Behind her, the officers twitched, waiting for the order; the transporter room was full of impatient energy.
"Damn it Jim..." Alianna whispered.
"We've got the order sir."
Alianna glared at the tech. "Then what you waiting for?"
The beams of light whipped around the assembled team and Alianna had to suppress another grin as the familiar sensation of have her molecules disassembled began to spread through her body. When the molecules reassembled a moment later, Alianna found herself standing on a slotted metal walkway suspended above pipes and conduits and wires, surrounded by thick smoke and a very nasty smell.
"Spread out, but don't go anywhere alone," she whispered, knowing they would all hear her.
She advanced forward, phaser pointed and ready, bright green eyes peeled for any sign of Klingon life. Briefly, she scowled at the red light on the back of her phaser, indicating the weapon was set to stun, and then she double-checked that it was on the highest setting in that category; anything less and the Klingons would not remain down.
On the bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk stumbled towards the turbolift as his ship shook again. "Lordeck, Sulu! You're with me. Mister Spock," he said, turning to face the Vulcan. "You have the bridge." As the turbolift doors opened, he turned his blue eyes to his communications officer. "Keep a lock on our away teams, Uhura. We don't want to lose anyone."
"We won't sir," she answered with the briefest glance towards Spock, exposing subtly the relationship the two maintained.
Kirk nodded once, sharply, and stepped into the elevator, his thumb finding the intercom button. "Bones."
"Yes Jim?"
"Meet me in the transporter room. We're going over to that ship."
"Do you need me?"
"We might. You're still the best field medic we have on board, Bones. Is there some medical emergency that only you can handle?"
"Not at the moment. I'll be there."
Kirk crossed his arms as the lift descended, noticing as he did so that Sindari was looking at him curiously, her red hair stuck to her face with sweat and her green eyes holding enough fire to match Alianna's. "Something the matter Lieutenant?" he asked, voice snapping a little more than he meant it to. The lift doors opened and the trio stepped into the hall, heading at a brisk pace to the transporter room.
"Just eager for this to be over, sir."
Alianna leapt over the body of a stunned Klingon, giving him a little kick as she did so. She rounded the corner, phaser first, her mouth tightly bunched and her eyes narrowed. The tightness in her shoulders had eased, but there was something nagging at her, one of those feelings where you know something is wrong, but you're not sure what and you're not sure what to do about it. Three Klingons came running at her and she took them down with three quick and precise shots, the action bringing back the memory of the day she scored one-hundred percent on the firing test. Her would-be attackers hit the deck with three heavy thumps and she leapt over them, moving as fast as she could without running; running would throw her aim off.
As she sped through another intersection, she realized she was alone, but couldn't remember where she'd lost the two ensigns who'd been following her. She slowed and momentarily debated going back to find them, but reminded herself that getting to the bridge and stopping the Klingons was the best option, and the ensigns were not alone. They would be fine and Alianna could handle herself. Inexperienced officers would only slow her down.
Someone screamed something in Klingon and the next thing Alianna knew, she was flying through the air and then she was colliding with a bulkhead and there was a searing pain in her right leg, just above her knee. She knew that pain and she knew, even before she looked down that she had been stabbed. Again. As if in response to the new injury, the scars on her side began to itch. Alianna screamed and looked right into the ridged face of her attacker as she switched her phaser to kill and placed the muzzle against his skin, right between his eyes.
"Go to hell," she hissed in the Klingon language. It was the only phrase she knew in the guttural language.
She pulled the trigger and didn't even flinch as she was sprayed with purple blood and thicker things.
As the body slumped to the deck, she untangled herself, switched the phaser back to stun and was off at a run for the bridge. Screw not being able to aim. This was going to end today.
"Are the weapons back online yet?" Krang roared.
"Almost."
"That's not good enough! We have intruders on our ship! We need to take tout those damn Starfleet vessels!" He turned around. "And where is that human?"
"I am right here."
Krang turned to look at the Green-Eyed Man. He was covered in grime and there was a cut along one cheek and he looked like he'd gone three rounds with a drunk Klingon, but he was still standing tall, his arms folded across his chest and that annoying air of superiority still about him. Krang snarled and balled his hands into fists. "What is the status of our weapon?" he asked, knowing as he did so that he would not like the answer.
"I have had no luck. I'm not an engineer or a weapons expert and I don't know what's wrong. You should not have killed the scientists."
"Maybe not, but that is in the past! I need that weapon online! We have three Federation vessels! We could take them all out, including the Enterprise! We could deal a great blow to Starfleet if we took out her flagship right now!"
The human snarled right back at the Klingon. Clearly, he was not happy. "I can't do anything about the weapon! Get one of your men to look at it! They'll probably have a better idea of what's going wrong than I will!"
Krang snarled, but turned away from the human and faced his weapons officer. "Go take a look," he ordered.
Kirk watched Sulu and Sindari as they ran down the hall towards the Engineering section of the Klingon Bird of Prey. He turned and looked at Bones, who was also watching the younger officers go, a strange look on his face. Kirk filed his questions away for a moment when this was all over and took the other path, headed for the bridge, Bones on his heels. They had made it about fifty feet when they ran into two ensigns, one lying on the ground, dead and the other kneeling over her fallen comrade.
"What happened?" Kirk demanded as Bones knelt to check over both victims.
The young woman, wide-eyed and blonde, blinked a few times, her mouth working but no words coming out. Finally, she managed. "I... don't know. We were with Commander Lordeck... She kept moving and one of the Klingons she'd stunned got up... He stabbed Yuma..." Her eyes fell on the dead man and she sobbed as her body started shaking. "I killed him... When I looked up... the Commander was gone..."
Kirk closed his eyes and mentally cursed Alianna's actions. He ran one hand back through his hair, fought the urge to scream and then looked down at Bones. "Stay with them. Find the others and get back to the ship."
"Jim—"
"Don't argue, Bones."
Doctor McCoy looked up at his friend and frowned. "Be careful, Jim."
Kirk nodded once and then turned and continued his trek to the bridge, climbing over stunned Klingons as he went. He radioed Sindari and Sulu and told them to disable the weapon and get back to the Enterprise as soon as possible and then he tried to contact Alianna. She didn't answer, which meant either she was incapable of answering or didn't want to; Kirk was betting on the latter option. He rounded another corner and nearly slipped in a pool of lavender Klingon blood. The sudden appearance of carnage brought him to an abrupt halt.
"Ali..." he breathed, taking in the hole between the Klingon's eyes. As his brain processed the tableau, Kirk noticed a splash of crimson blood amidst all the purple. "Fuck," he cursed, knowing it was Alianna who had been injured and knowing she wouldn't let it slow her down.
He took off at a run.
Sindari climbed under a bank of conduits to bring herself closer to the where the weapon had been rather hastily attached to the Bird of Prey's systems. She peered at an open section of wires. "This is a fascinating piece of technology," she informed Sulu who was standing near her feet, keeping watch. "But it wasn't attached properly, which is why it failed." Sindari wormed closer and wrapped her hand around a bunch of the colourful wires. She had been itching to fight, but working with a weapon, with technology she loved, had pushed her bloodlust to the rear of her mind. Sindari yanked the wires out of their connections and smiled in a satisfied way as the lights on the weapon system flickered out.
"Hurry it up Lordeck," Sulu said. "I hear someone coming."
Sindari wiggled out of the pipes and rose to her feet. "It's done. The weapon wasn't working, but it could have been repaired." She aimed her phaser at the largest grouping of conduits for the weapons and fired, a shower of blue and yellow sparks erupting from the area. "And now it's double-done. Let's get back to the ship."
The pair made their way back down the hall to the prearranged transporter coordinates when loud footsteps began to echo off the metal walls. Sindari stepped in front of Sulu, phaser armed, but she needn't have worried as she lowered it when Bones came around the corner, a mighty relieved look on his rugged face. The three officers exchanged looks and then moved out, Sulu taking point and Sindari and Bones running beside each other. As they reached the coordinates however, Bones ushered the younger officers forward.
"Bones?"
He looked at Sindari and then at Sulu. "I've got to make sure the rest of the away team gets off the ship," he said. His dark eyes turned back to Sindari. "And I've got to make sure Jim and Alianna get off this ship in one piece."
Sulu nodded and so did Sindari, albeit reluctantly.
Bones smiled tightly at Sindari as they were transported away.
"It's time to surrender, Krang."
The Klingon Captain stared at the human man. "Never."
The Green-Eyed Man fired the phaser he had procured from a fallen Klingon officer and took out the navigations officer, the pool of lavender blood spreading from under his heavy body letting Krang know the man was dead. Krang turned dark eyes towards the human and took in the wide set of his eyes; he was hysterical.
"We're all going to die."
"Klingons do not surrender, human."
He snarled in a very animal-like way and levelled his phaser at the Klingon Captain. "I will not die because you failed!"
"We did not fail!" Krang advanced on the human, making him back up a few steps. "You were the one who brought us the weapon, who helped us find and kidnap the scientists! You were the one who brought us this disaster. We will all die in battle rather than surrender!"
"Then your deaths with be dishonourable!"
"It is more honourable to die in battle than to give up!"
Krang thumped his fists against the Green-Eyed Man's chest, knocking him backwards. The surprise made the human fire the phaser, beams of light discharging around the bridge, knocking out consoles and another Klingon officer. Krang watched the human scramble to his feet again, phaser still pointed at Krang's face; the Klingon had to give the human credit: he was persistent. The human set his mouth in a frown, his green eyes shining brilliantly with the fires of determination. The phaser stopped shaking.
"If you will not surrender, than I will kill you."
And he fired.
Author's Note.
So, sorry the chapter took so long, but for some reason, it was really hard to get out. I fought with this one a lot, regardless of Alianna yelling in my head, trying to tell me what happens next. She's very vocal, but for some reason, the words won't flow. I'm not completely happy with the beginning, but I needed to get it out so I could move on to the next chapter. The last few chapters of this fic are exciting and I really want to write them.
By the way, I don't expect all of you to understand what I'm talking about. I'm just explaining what's going on in my head and why the chapter is so late in coming.
Anyways, enjoy!
Next Chapter: The Final Confrontation.