"Thank you all for coming to this emergency briefing," Admiral Pike announced to Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov, seated around a briefing table in the Emergency Briefing Room. "A disturbing report has come in from a heavily damaged starship, which may explain the disappearance of 67 Federation ships near the Betelgeuse Nebula over the past 4½ months. For further information, I am turning this briefing over to Captain Robert Walker of the USS Tempest."

Captain Kirk raised his eyebrows at the mention of the Betelgeuse Nebula. Ever since the starship Barack Obama had gone missing in November 2267, Starfleet had lost contact with dozens of starships near the Betelgeuse nebula – worryingly, even one of the Enterprise's sister ships. Leaning forward, he watched Robert Walker limp up to the announcement podium. The normally humorous, energetic young man now looked beaten, pale, and frightened. A large cut ran across his cheek, and his right arm was in a cast.

"Good morning to you all," Walker said quietly into the microphone. His voice wobbled slightly as he spoke.

"A week ago, we were sent out to search for the missing USS Cassiopeia near the Betelgeuse Nebula. Almost as soon as we got there, a navigational error caused us to accidently stray into the Klingon Neutral Zone, and straightaway, three Klingon Birds-of-Prey decloaked nearby and pursued us past the Betelgeuse Nebula…"

The USS Tempest rushed through the black void of space, pursued by the three vulture-like Klingon Birds-of-Prey. Glowing green photon torpedoes and red phaser beams streaked through the vacuum, where they impacted on the hull of the Federation starship.

Another blast shook the bridge of the Tempest. Captain Walker clutched the arms of his chair and swivelled around to face his helm officer.

"Lieutenant M'Kurea," he shouted, "what's our status?"

M'Kurea, an orange-furred Caitian feloid, checked the readouts from her holoscreens. "Shields down to 49 percent, sir," she said softly – Caitian females always spoke in a quiet gentle voice, no matter what the situation – "and main power is down to 81 percent."

"Olson!" Walker called through the intercom. "Can you get the auxiliary power running?"

"I'm doing my best, Captain!" the chief engineer cried. "We're all a little shaken up down here!"

Suddenly, one of the bridge officers let out a cry of surprise. Captain Walker immediately looked up at the viewscreen...and his mouth dropped open.

Floating in space in front of them was a huge debris field. Huge chunks of what only could be bits of starship hovered before them.

Every officer on the bridge – the tactical officer, Greg Reed; the communications officer, Selek; the science officer, Valerie Ward; and M'Kurea, the helm officer, were all staring at the debris field, frozen in sheer wonder and horror. Suddenly, another blast from the Klingon starships shook the bridge.

Captain Walker looked apprehensively at the debris cloud in front of them. But the Klingon Birds-of-Prey were rapidly closing in on them.

He had no choice.

"Helm, take us into the debris field!" he ordered. "We'll be safer in there than out here."

"Aye, sir," M'Kurea purred, punching in commands on her touchscreens.

Slowly, the Tempest coasted into the debris field, weaving through the spinning chunks of starship towards the centre of the cloud. Soon, she had disappeared from view.

The Klingon starships halted, confused, at the edge of the debris field. Unlike the Tempest, which was small enough to slip through the debris with ease, the Birds-of-Prey, with their two wide wings, could not fit through the tiny gaps between the huge chunks of debris. Instead, they changed course, and coasted around the debris field, their scanners searching relentlessly for the Starship Tempest.

Hidden inside the debris field, Captain Walker breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe from the Klingons. Now they had enough time to get the ship repaired and head back to Earth.

But then, glancing up at the viewscreen, he saw a large piece of debris, blackened and battered…but with a still readable registration on it.

A Federation registration.

It was the USS Cassiopeia

Gasping, Walker looked at another point on the viewscreen. Part of the starship Kepler floated nearby, its name still clear on the battered hull. A blasted section of the Komagata Maru could be seen just behind it. And countless other pieces of starship floated around the Tempest as well…Federation starships.

Walker's hand started shaking in fury.

"Those Klingon murderers!" he growled. "They've killed thousands of innocent people!"

"I don't think it's the Klingons, sir," Valerie Ward said softly. "My scanners have also picked up several Klingon starship remains in the debris field. Over there," (here she pointed at a piece of debris on the viewscreen) "is the bridge section of a D7 class warbird. And I have identified part of a Romulan Dreadnaught, so that rules out the possibility of a Romulan attack,"

Captain Walker's mind was still clouded by fury. "Someone must have done this. Someone must have killed these people."

"You are right, Captain," Ward replied. "But who?"

Suddenly, a sensor indicator started beeping for attention. Ward rushed over and checked her screen.

"Sir!" she exclaimed. "I am picking up impulse drive energy signatures…from inside the nebula!"

"On screen," Walker said automatically.

The viewscreen flickered from the countless pieces of debris in front of the Tempest to the beautiful backdrop of the Betelgeuse Nebula. The three Klingon Birds-of-Prey were no longer patrolling the edge of the debris field, but now they were heading towards the colourful cloud of gas…where an ominous black shadow slowly approached them.

Everybody on the bridge let out a gasp as a gigantic black warbird emerged from the nebula.

"Oh my God!" breathed Captain Walker.

The huge starship powered towards the trio of Klingon starships. The icicle-like formations on its hull glistened in the starlight. The Birds-of-Prey looked tiny in comparison to the obsidian-black warbird.

Suddenly, the leading Klingon Bird-of-Prey fired a photon torpedo at the intruder. But the glowing green ball of energy merely dissolved into the warbird's shields.

Then the gigantic starship let loose all its firepower.

Scores of photon torpedoes and phaser beams shot out from the obsidian black hull. Within just half a minute, the flanking Birds-of-Prey had disappeared in twin balls of flame.

The lead vessel quickly turned around and rushed away from the warbird. But before it got very far, the black starship fired a quick round of photon torpedoes, and with a flash of light, the last Klingon starship disappeared in a ball of flame.

All this was observed in horror from the bridge of the Tempest.

Captain Walker was frozen in fear, staring at the sight of the disappearing balls of fire that once were three fearsome Klingon Birds-of-Prey. 'That thing just destroyed some of the most powerful starships in the Klingon Navy. If it came to Earth…'

"Captain!" cried M'Kurea suddenly.

"What?" muttered Walker, preoccupied by his thoughts.

"The warbird…it's spotted us!"

Eyes wide with alarm, Walker stared up at the viewscreen. Sure enough, the warbird was slowly but surely rotating towards them.

Everybody on the bridge knew what was going to happen to them in a few moments.

Walker immediately sprang into action.

"Turn us around! Full impulse power! Olson, I need those warp cores ready in a minute or we're all dead! We need to get…"

BOOM! BOOM!

Suddenly, the starship shook with multiple blasts from photon torpedoes and phasers. The bridge was plunged into darkness as the lights flickered out, and the vessel pitched and yawed violently.

Outside, huge chunks were being torn off the starship by the photon torpedoes and phaser beams. The port warp nacelle fragmented and the weapons rollbar shattered. Within seconds, the Tempest had turned into a scarred, broken wreck of its former self.

Then, suddenly, the barrage stopped.

All was dark on the bridge. Then, slowly, the red emergency lights flickered into life.

Captain Walker opened his eyes and lifted his head. He was lying on his stomach on a floor littered with hunks of console, bits of wire and cable, and shards of screen. His body ached all over, and he could taste blood in his mouth. His arm felt like it had been dipped in a bucket of fire. He must have been flung from his chair during the barrage.

Walker slowly got to his feet, clutching his injured arm, and looked around the bridge.

It looked more like a battlefield. Several consoles had exploded, and their remains were belching out thick black smoke.

Most of the bridge crew were dead, slumped in their chairs or thrown to the floor, their faces blackened and burned. Only M'Kurea and Ward were still alive, but they both were badly injured. M'Kurea nursed a long gash on her arm, bleeding the yellow blood of her species. Ward had a bad head wound.

"You okay?" Walker croaked.

M'Kurea nodded mutely.

"I think so," Ward gasped.

"Don't you want to get down to Medical?"

"I don't think Medical exists anymore, sir," Ward said, turning back to her console. Amazingly, most of her sensors and screens were still working. Tapping her holoscreen, she checked what readouts she still had.

"It seems," she said, "that a battle group of 9 Klingon D7-type battlecruisers have arrived and distracted the warbird."

Walker sighed in relief. They were not about to be turned into space-dust.

"Captain!" crackled a voice.

Captain Walker whipped around to see the communicator from the captain's chair lying on the floor. It was still working.

"Olson?" called the captain into the comm. "Is that you?"

"Who else?" said Olson. "It's a real mess down here, Captain. But we're all alright."

"Can you get us out of here?" shouted Walker.

"The warp core's been rattled badly, sir, but we've got just enough juice to get us at least to Alpha Centurai. Thank goodness these starships can run on one nacelle."

Walker nodded, smiling despite his pain. "Valerie, what's our position?"

Ward checked her screens again. "We've been thrown clean out of the debris field, sir."

"M'Kurea? Plot a course back to Earth."

"Aye, sir," the Caitian said, tapping her screen with her uninjured paw. "Course plotted."

"Olson, are you ready?" Walker asked.

"Just, sir," replied the engineer.

Walker nodded. "Warp speed, M'Kurea. Maximum factor possible."

Slowly, the warp drive whirred into life. The Tempest's remaining warp nacelle glowed bright blue…

"…and that's how we got here," Captain Walker finished. "Out of my crew of 380, 213 of them were killed. Thank you for your attention."

The young captain stepped down from the podium and limped back to his seat. Captain Kirk glanced at his fellow crewmembers seated around the table. They were all visibly shocked (except Spock) by the tale.

"I want to know who commanded that ship!" McCoy whispered to Kirk as another person stepped up onto the podium.

It was Admiral Nogura, a gruff, serious Japanese officer who had been in Starfleet longer than Kirk could remember.

"Captain Kirk," he began, "we want you to go to the Betelgeuse Nebula to investigate this mystery starship."

McCoy's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

Kirk felt like he'd just been punched in the gut. Slowly, he stood up. "With all due respect, Admiral, but do you think it's wise to send just a single starship, when that warbird can easily destroy a dozen cruisers?"

"A single starship," Nogura explained, "may be able to go unnoticed past the nebula and collect the valuable data we need. And the Enterprise is fitted with the latest long-range scanners, so you won't need to get too close to discover more about that starship. Meanwhile, the Starships Exeter, Oberon, Taupo, Victory, and Attenborough will be conducting a 'training exercise' in the Mutara System. It's fairly close both to Earth and to Betelgeuse, so they'll be able to give you assistance near the nebula or intercept the enemy if it comes to Earth."

These words did not at all comfort Kirk. "Admiral," he persisted, "that warbird has destroyed hundreds of starships and countless crewmembers. What makes you think that we won't go the same way?"

"Because you're the best in Starfleet," the admiral answered firmly. "If anybody can get out of that alive, you can. This meeting is now adjourned."

"Dammit, Jim, this is madness!" snapped McCoy as Kirk and his crew strode back into the pier.

"This is Starfleet," retorted Kirk.

"Jim, in case you weren't listening, that thing has killed thousands. And if we go there, we'll be the next to die, whatever your revered Nogura says!"

"I agree with you, Doctor," said Spock flatly. "The chance of survival in a situation like that is less than 2.4%."

"Shut it, you green blooded, insensitive hobgoblin!" snapped the doctor.

"You may be right, Bones," Captain Kirk said, turning around to face his two friends. "But we've been in situations as bad as this before, and we've always pulled through. Remember that."

Just then, Decker walked up to his old captain. "Well…" he said slowly, "good luck on that mission, sir."

"Thank you," Kirk nodded curtly.

"I know you'll get out of this," Decker smiled. "Remember all those old missions? The M-113 salt monster? The Psi 2000 disease? The Romulans? You got us out of all of them."

Kirk managed a grin. "Yeah. Those were the good old days."

The two captains shook hands. Then they parted ways; Kirk heading up the docking bridge to the Enterprise, Decker continuing up the pier to the Victory.

"Good old days, my ass," grumbled McCoy. "I had more fun throwing up on the hyper-coaster in Atlantia when I was 6!"

Yeah, I'm redoing some of the chapters, so they're a bit shorter and snappier...;-)

Please review if you like it!