Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. Tomb Raider and the situations therein are the property of Square Enix. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit. Stardates were calculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com and may be slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.

The Bigger They Come

USS Nautilus, Shuttle One Crew, Senior Science Officer Carlin Drel's Log, Stardate 81633.0:

We're on our way to the southern shore of the island, where we believe the engineering section of the bird-of-prey went down. Ensign Alex McKensey is still aboard, but we lost contact with him when he was attacked by the ship's maddened Gorn engineer.

We're not the only ones interested in the downed ship, though. Ursan and Atria - the former commander and mistress of the bird-of-prey, respectively - have gone down ahead of us in hopes of retrieving their private shuttlecraft and using it to escape the planet - a plan which I'm sure is doomed to fail. There's also the Solarii to consider. We lost a large search party by escaping into some caves, but Matan is still out there, as are plenty of his men. I can't believe they intend to lie down and die easy.

It was dawn by the time they left the caves, and midmorning by the time they saw the bird-of-prey. They were all tired from a long hike with only brief rests, but the sight of their objective heartened them - at least until they got a better look at it.

"Well, this complicates things," Sam said when she noticed it.

Carlin nodded. Up ahead, the battered engineering section of the bird-of-prey was not in the shallows off the coast, as they'd expected, but suspended fully a dozen meters in the air by a pair of ramshackle salvage cranes on the beach. Further complicating things were the scores of figures roaming the catwalks between the two cranes - Solarii figures. "Well, we won't be able to do anything about it till we get closer," Drel said. "Stay low and keep out of sight."

They descended the rocky coastland toward the cranes, careful to stay under cover as much as possible. Fotunately, the Solarii were too preoccupied with the hulk of the ship to notice. Carlin saw one group setting up bulky explosive charges on the blast door that marked where the "neck" of the bird-of-prey had attached. A second group was gathered around the base of the ship, where its main gainway was down. They did not seem to be entering though. Carlin wondered at this until she saw one of the Solarii in the second group seize the controls of the plasma minigun they'd been setting up and fire it up the gainway. The bolts fizzled against a barrier of red energy. A forcefield! And a strong one at that, she realized. Are they on all the entrances?

"This complicates things significantly," said Sam.

"If it's any consolation, it looks like we're not the only ones having problems," said Crusoe. He pointed to a pair of green-skinned figures crouching behind the rocks a few meters further down the slope, staring fixedly at the ship.

Sam saw them too and let out a low whistle. "Well, if it isn't the Incredible Hulk and his skanky girlfriend."

"Commander Ursan and Lady Atria," Drel corrected. She hadn't been a great fan of them herself, but they were the only potential allies against the Solarii they had at this point, and she wasn't about to alienate them over Sam's penchant for giving childish nicknames.

"Friends?" asked Crusoe.

"That's what we're about to find out," said Carlin. She led the way down the slope toward the pair of Orions. They approached from the side, careful to stay hidden from the Solarii but not from Ursan and Atria. She didn't want it to look like they were trying to sneak up on them. It wouldn't do to be perceived as a threat and shot by their only potential allies on the planet, especially when they needed them most.

Atria saw them first and signaled Ursan with a touch on his shoulder. The big Orion man turned to them and beckoned for them to come closer. "It's good to see a friendly face," he said, and it sounded genuine.

"Now that you're here, we can get started," said Atria, her tone much cooler.

"You waited for us? I'm flattered," said Sam, voice fairly drowned in sarcasm.

"We need the extra firepower to be honest," said Ursan. "Something more than these, anyway." He waved a tiny ornamental disruptor pistol, dwarfed in the palm of his hand.

"Okay, I can see how that would be a problem," Sam allowed.

"By the same token, we're going to need your help lowering the forcefields," said Carlin.

"I'm sure we can think of something," said Atria.

"Either you help us or you don't," said Sam.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, human," said Atria. She shifted. "We didn't put the forcefield up in the first place, but I'm sure we can find a way around it."

"For your sake, I hope so," said Sam.

"Enough," said Carlin. She could feel an irritating combination of headache and arousal coming on from the combined pheromones of the Orions. It was teaming up with her conflicted post-joining emotions to put her on edge, but she could not allow that to distract her from the real threat - the Solarii - or their purpose in being here - to rescue Ensign McKensey from the bird-of-prey. "We have to get in there and that means dealing with the Solarii first, especially that minigunner. Sam, do you think you can take him out?"

"So long as he doesn't make any sudden movements," said Sam. She shouldered the Cardassian phaser rifle she'd taken off a dead Solarii and sighted along its length. "Seisha hicchu," she whispered to herself. Then the red-orange beam lanced out from the phaser rifle, striking the Solarii gunner and felling him.

Carlin raised her rifle beside Sam, switching the setting to full auto. She sprayed bolts of blue fire at the Solarii on the catwalks, concentrating on the ones nearest the minigun. The scattered. Many did not run fast enough and fell. Some tried to descend the ladders while others leaped to their deaths. A few grabbed bows or spears and tried to fight back. Carlin and Sam prioritized these while Ursan, Atria, and Doctor Howard used their pistols to keep any Solarii on the ground away. In a matter of minutes, it was over. The remaining Solarii had either fled or hidden. The survivors stood.

"Well, that was a fine little workout there," said Atria.

"Nothing to get the blood going like a curb-stomp battle in the morning," said Sam.

"Let's not get cocky," Drel warned. "The Solarii have retreated, but they're not beaten by a long shot. Let's get in, grab Ensign McKensey and the shuttle, and get out."

"Agreed," said Ursan.

They headed for the base of the nearest crane, then up the rickety ladder the Solarii had welded to it. Atria and Ursan took the lead, followed by Crusoe and Sam. Drel and Doctor Howard stayed at the bottom as a rearguard in case any of the Solarii who'd made it to the ground and fled tried to double back. Once Sam and the others had reached the top, they shouted down for Carlin and the Doctor to follow while they kept watch.

Once they were all on the platform halfway up the crane, Atria and Ursan took the lead toward the blast doors. "These are our best chance of getting it," Atria said.

"What about using the minigun to break through the forcefield?" Sam asked. "I mean, it's got to give way eventually - and when it does, we would have a minigun, which would be great for things like crazy Gorn and creepy scavengers."

"Sounds good, but we seem to be missing the minigun," said Ursan, pointing down to the catwalk below them, where the minigun had been set up before.

"One of the Solarii must have taken it during the firefight," said Drel. Her eyes scanned the catwalks and the ground below, but she couldn't find it among the bodies.

Atria ignored them, examining the bundles of explosives instead. "These are crude, but they should work," she said. "The detonators aren't going to work though. I've seen better models from a Ferengi junk dealer."

"Your disruptors should be able to detonate the explosives," Carlin pointed out. "I just don't think any of us want to be standing next to them when they go off."

"They've got to have some way of moving these catwalks out of the way," Howard pointed out. "They'd be in the way whenever they tried to raise a ship otherwise."

"There's a crank here that looks like it could swing the catwalk out, away from the ship," said Crusoe, pointing out a large, crude device near the beginning of the catwalk.

Ursan moved toward it, tucking his tiny disruptor into a pocket. He gripped the crank handle in his massive hands and looked to Atria. "I'll handle this. You see to the explosives." Atria smiled and nodded. Carlin directed everyone off of the catwalk except for Atria, who remained at the end. Once the catwalk was clear, Ursan began working the crank. There was a loud ratcheting noise and the catwalk slowly swung outward.

When it was a few meters from the blast doors, Atria shouted for Ursan to stop. She took careful aim while Carlin and the others covered their ears. Atria fired and there was a large explosion. Pieces of the blast door fell down to the ground below. Atria smiled and began to stand up, then Drel heard the whine of a plasma minigun powering. "Get down!" she yelled.

A moment later, a stream of green bolts ripped through the air over Atria's head. It was coming from somewhere near the top of the other crane, shielded from Carlin's view by the bulk of the ship. Atria popped off a couple of shots in return, but whoever was using the minigun kept firing. "Swing me in! We need to get into the ship!"

Ursan was already working the crank, but the catwalk was moving too slowly. "Help him!" Carlin shouted, then set her rifle to burst mode. She ran down the catwalk to where Atria crouched, until she caught sight of the minigunner. She fired a burst at him, but the duranium shield in front of his weapon blocked the shot. She did, however, succeed in getting his attention. He swung the weapon toward her, a line of deadly green fire coming straight at her. She ducked and dodged, but knew this would only buy her a few seconds.

Thankfully, that was all she needed. Before the minigunner's fire could reach her, its bolts began ricocheting off the top of the bird-of-prey's hull. A moment later, the catwalk was back in place by the breached doors and the survivors hurried inside.

The interior of the bird-of-prey was dark compared with the sunlight outside, but still dimly lit by emergency lights. It took their eyes a moment to adjust by the time they did, the two Orions had already moved deeper into the ship and were standing at the bottom of a set of stairs leading up. "Let's get the shuttle ready and get out of here!" said Atria.

"We have to rescue our crewmate first. You're waiting for us," said Carlin. It was a statement, not a question, and she desperately hoped that her voice carried the air of a command Antori seemed to give such things so easily - and that the Orions would respect that.

"Of course we will," said Atria, smiling as she ascended the stairs and moved out of sight with Ursan.

"I don't trust her as far as I can throw her with both arms tied behind my back," Sam muttered.

"Neither do I," said Carlin. "You and Crusoe go with them, make sure they don't take off without us. Doc and I'll head to main engineering and get Ensign McKensey."

Sam nodded and they split up, Howard and Carlin continuing down the hall while the other two went up the stairs. At the end of the hall, as Drel recalled, lay main engineering. As they approached it she saw several bodies lying on the debris-strewn deck. They were all Orion. There were a few more inside, also all Orion. Some of them had definitely not been killed by the crash. Massive blunt force trauma to the head on that one, but there's nothing for him to have hit his head on nearby and it looks almost...fist-shaped, Carlin observed. She shuddered at the implications and kept her weapon ready while they checked the rest of the room. There was no sign of a human junior science officer though. Carlin tapped her combadge. "Drel to Hayashi, we've got a problem," she said.

"Yeah? What sort of problem? Our new friends are doing a preflight check and they're getting pretty antsy," said Sam.

"Ensign McKensey's not here," said Carlin.

Sam uttered something unrepeatable, then there was a shout in the background. "Hold on, Crusoe's found something. It's Alex! He made it up here somehow. He's pinned beneath a beam, though. Better get the Doctor up here!"

"We're on our way!" said Carlin, relieved. "Drel out!" She and Howard rushed out of main engineering and into the corridor - only to stop suddenly in their tracks.

There, standing in front of them, was the Gorn.

He wore the tattered remnants of what had once been some sort of protective suit and his head had obviously been bloodied on his right side, but he was still up and still dangerous. He bared his fangs in an animal snarl and reached for Carlin with a clawed hand. She blocked automatically with her rifle. He caught it in a vice-like grip. She tried to pull it away, but he swung at her with his free hand, forcing her to release the rifle and jump back.

Howard had his phaser ready. As soon as Carlin was clear, he fired, hitting the Gorn in the chest. The Gorn roared in pain, but did not go down. Instead he crushed the Dominion rifle in his fist and hurled it at the Doctor. It clipped Howard's head, stunning him and making him drop his phaser. Carlin started to go for the phaser, but then she saw the Gorn preparing to charge. She grabbed Howard's arm and pulled him back into main engineering a moment before the Gorn slammed shoulder-first into the wall where the Doctor had been.

"Get back! Contact the others!" Carlin shouted, pushing Howard deeper into the room and hoping his dazed mind would understand. She turned back to the Gorn, determined to buy him as much time as possible. She grabbed her only weapon, the climbing ax and hefted it. I've fought Gorn before, she reminded herself, at least holographic ones...in my previous host, who was larger and in much better shape...and better armed. She cut off the unhelpful train of thought before she could remind herself that Antori had never actually won any of those fights and that the injuries he'd sustained in them would have been lethal without the holodeck's safety protocols.

Concentrate on your opponent, she told herself, learn his weaknesses. She didn't have much time to study them, though. So far she could tell that the Gorn was injured, out of his mind, tremendously strong, and slow. Only the last one was really any help as he pushed off the wall and came charging at her. She sidestepped at the last minute and the Gorn's momentum carried him past her.

The knees! she remembered suddenly one of the lessons Antori had learned the hard way. The Gorn's knees are weak and vulnerable to attacks from the rear. Even as she thought this, old half-remembered instincts moved her hand to strike. Her climbing ax tore through ligaments and flesh at the back of the Gorn's left knee. He roared in pain, his left leg collapsing under him. The Gorn grabbed a plasma conduit for support, fracturing and bending the pipe. Scalding plasma spewed into the room. Doctor Howard staggered out of the way.

The Gorn wasn't down yet, though. He tried to pivot on his immobile left leg, swinging around with a powerful punch. But his injury slowed him and Carlin danced around behind him again, dodging the blow. Unfortunately, that left her pinned between the bulkhead, the Gorn, and the broken plasma conduit, which was swinging erratically and spraying hot plasma everywhere. She did not have time to strike. Already the Gorn was turning back toward her.

When your options are limited, use whatever weapons you have, she remembered, and improvised. She hooked her climbing axe around the end of the hot plasma conduit and pulled down on it sharply, putting the end of it right in the Gorn's face as he turned. Gorn skin was tough, but burning plasma found its way into his eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs. The Gorn roared in pain, raising its arms to flail at the plasma conduit. That gave her the opening she was looking for. She unhooked her axe from the conduit and plunged it down into the Gorn's neck. The ax bit in, but not very deep. She swung again, and again. Red blood sprayed her, but the Gorn simply batted aside her ax and the plasma conduit. The axe fell from her blood-slick fingers and she was unarmed. She prepared herself for the end.

The Gorn roared, but weakly with a horse rasping noise. Something broke through the panicked fog in Carlin's brain and she realized she was hearing a death rattle. The Gorn started moving, but not forward. Instead, he tipped backwards, blinded eyes rolling back as he fell to the deck with a thud. There were a few more raspy breaths, then he fell silent. Carlin found herself standing over him, breathing hard, her right hand and arm red with blood. She did not know whether to be horrified or amazed. At least I'm still alive.

She turned to Doctor Howard, who seemed to have regained his senses. "Are you alright?"

"I think so...mild concussion is all," he said, rubbing his head. He knelt to pick up the phaser he'd dropped, then turned back to Carlin. "You just fought a Gorn and won. Are you alright?"

"Shaken, but unharmed," said Carlin. She tore a dry strip of cloth from her uniform sleeve and used it to wipe off her hand and the handle of her ax before carefully stowing it against her leg once more.

"You know, Antori never managed to win one of his Gorn fights," said Howard. "You're lucky to be alive."

"Antori was taking on fit opponents in fair fights for the experience. I was fighting an injured Gorn and doing whatever I could to survive."

"I guess motivation counts for something," said Howard.

Carlin nodded. She finished cleaning off her ax and as much of herself as she could, then left the soiled strip of cloth and the Gorn behind. "Come on, let's get up to the hanger, rescue McKensey, and get out of here before the Solarii come in here with that minigun."

"I'm right behind you, Drel," said Doctor Howard. Together, they ran for the stairs.

Author's Note: This is a combination of two different levels of the game...sort of. The first is brief level where Lara comes down from the Solarii city in a gondala only to run across a ship that the Solarii have hoisted into the air, presumably to salvage. There she gets ambushed by a bunch of Solarii including one with a minigun. However, here Carlin and Sam ambush the Solarii instead because, with their communications down, this group of Solarii has no way of knowing that they're coming. Only the minigun survives.

The second level is the boss fight on the Endurance, where Lara fights Borys (briefly mentioned in mook dialogue on approach to the wreck), the final Russian brother. However, given his enormous size, power, and toughness, I thought a Gorn would make an appropriate substitute. In the game Borys must be killed by repeated headshots followed by repeated ax strikes to the neck made in a quicktime event. It's extremely frustrating and very easy to screw up. When writing this scene for the Gorn, though, I changed up the combat a little, keeping only the finishing ax strikes and making a reference to chapter 3 in "The Best Revenge" - where Drel first learns to go for the knees!