NX-01 Enterprise
Panqual system
Feb 24, 2155
The hole in the hull had long since been expertly patched and the alpha shift bridge crew manned their stations as Enterprise entered the system.
They immediately took note that they were not alone. To one side a gargantuan vessel drifted, obviously the Church of the First Mother's citadel-ship. To the other, a prodigious spatial rift with six J-class freighters attached by cables to a massive superstructure.
This was clearly the Purifier. Easily a mile in length it dwarfed even the citadel-ship. Thousands of outcroppings of dilithium nodes dotted its surface. At its forward section, a long nozzle of uninterrupted metallic material extended from its length.
It looked for all the world like a massive gun.
"Those freighters are heavily armed." Malcolm warned. "Those aren't plasma cannons they're sporting; those are phased energy cannons. I can't imagine where they got them."
"I think we can assume they're agents of Terra Prime. No one else has those kinds of resources. I was wondering when they'd show up. We're up against every other enemy out here."
"We're woefully outgunned here." Malcolm said. "We can't hope to take on either the citadel-ship or the freighters. Never mind both at once."
"T'Pol, can we close the rift somehow before they manage to get the Purifier clear of it?"
"A sustained neutrino burst from our deflector could do it. As the Purifier is partially clear of the spatial anomaly, the closing rift could easily shear the device in half."
"Then all we have to do is last long enough to close that rift." Archer said. "Malcolm?"
"If we can maintain power to shields and the deflector shield, we could last quite a while. I think we can do it."
"Then that's our play. T'Pol do what you have to do to get ready. We have to move quickly before anyone can stop us. Malcolm, fortify shields. Divert power from life support, if you have to…"
"Wait a minute." Malcolm interrupted. "No one's moving."
"What?" Archer asked, seeking clarification.
"No one's reacting to our presence. No move to intercept, no sensor sweeps or pings. They're all just drifting in space."
"That can't be right." Archer argued. "Maybe we just caught them by surprise."
"He's right." T'Pol interjected. "I'm detecting no life signs on any of the ships. Even the citadel-ship. I should be reading hundreds of independent life signs."
"Well, that just doesn't make any sense."
"Logically, something happened prior to our arrival that rendered all these ships lifeless. Something nefarious is at work here. We should vacate the system before we fall prey to it ourselves."
"She's right." Trip offered. "Whatever's happening isn't natural. Maybe the Purifier misfired and took everyone out?"
"Well, we can't simply leave the thing here for someone else to stumble across. We have to destroy it. Options?"
"That citadel-ship has a massive warp engine assembly." Malcolm noted. "A warp core breach where it sits now could utterly destroy that thing. If everyone on that ship really is dead, there's nothing stopping us from going over there and making that happen."
"That sounds like a winner. Trip, are you familiar enough with Orion warp engines to initiate a breach?"
"You've seen one warp engine; you've seen them all. I'm confident I can do it."
"That's the plan, then." Archer decided. "We'll have to move fast before whatever happened to them happens to us…"
The captain was interrupted by a suddenly glowing coalescence appearing between the helm and viewscreen. It shaped itself and dissolved into a humanoid form.
It spoke, its voice booming.
"Trespassers! Why have you come to this system?!"
Archer didn't allow himself to be surprised. He did the math quickly and decided on a response he hoped would lead to a positive outcome.
"We've come to ensure the Purifier isn't put to use." He said.
"That is not your place! None may access the Purifier!"
"We hope that a proximal warp core breach could destroy it." Archer replied.
"Impossible! The Purifier is eternal!"
"Nothing can withstand the laws of physics. A proximal warp core breach will rip that thing apart at the atomic level, I don't care what it's made of."
The glowing form fell silent. To his relief, Archer intuited the being was actually considering what he'd said.
At last, it spoke.
"And you are certain you can accomplish this?!"
"As certain as can be without trying it first."
"Very well! But beware! I am watching, always! Treachery will not be tolerated!"
With a flash, the entity disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving the bridge crew in stunned silence.
"Okay, let's focus." Archer said. "I think we've discovered what happened to every other sentient inhabiting this system. Best to get over to that citadel-ship and initiate the warp core breach before we exhaust that thing's patience."
With the gargantuan size of the citadel-ship it took almost half an hour for scans to identify the main engineering area. Wasting no time on shuttle pod rides, Trip and Malcolm made use of the matter transporter again to access the engineering department.
Bodies of Orion technicians littered the floor of main engineering. They were forced to step over a few as Trip bounced around the area, identifying the workstations that would give him the access he required. With a translator program running on his padd, Trip activated the controls necessary. In mere minutes he had the warp engine on the cusp of core breach. Setting a timer that would give time enough for the Enterprise to get clear was the hardest part. Trip was forcing the Orion systems to do things they weren't designed to do.
"That should do it." Trip announced.
Malcolm spoke into his comm, "Bring us home."
As the blue whine of matter transport lit the engineering area, a timer began counting down in Orion.
The Enterprise wasted no time putting distance between itself and warp core breach that would soon render anything in range a powdery mess.
The explosion was brilliant and monstrous, lighting up the bridge through the viewscreen high-definition video. The edges of the warp breach's explosion licked at the Purifier's massive bulk, causing large sections of the superstructure to vaporize. What wasn't destroyed at the atomic level buckled instead, with the weapon nearly curling back in on itself. The Purifier was nothing more than dilithium rich scrap now.
The entity reappeared almost immediately, bathing the bridge in warm, golden light.
"It is done! Depart this system now and do not return! I am watching, always!"
It winked out as quickly as it had come, leaving the bridge in stunned silence once again.
'Travis," Archer said. "I think it's time we made ourselves scarce. Plot a course for home."
"Course laid in, warp four point five." Travis responded.
In the following days warning buoys were placed around the Panqual system. Most heeded the warnings. Some, dreaming of the riches those dilithium nodes promised, did not. They never left the system again. In time, word of mouth accomplished what the buoys could not.
No one dared brave the quinary system after that.
Returning home this time, the crew of the Enterprise did not receive the ticker-tape parades to which it had become accustomed. Most of the events surrounding the Purifier were deemed classified.
The death of John Frederick Paxton changed almost nothing. Stubborn Terra Prime cells continued to operate, wreaking havoc wherever they could. Rumors that a shadowy figure of some sort had smoothly slid into the seat no longer occupied by Paxton persisted for many months.
In time, once the Romulan war had concluded and there were no further galaxy-shaking threats to hearth and home, Trip and T'Pol quietly reigned their commissions with Starfleet. Trip signed a lucrative contract with the Tri-Star corporation, designing starships for their deep space survey program.
T'Pol stayed at home to raise their hybrid daughter, named T'Pau in honor of Vulcan's illustrious young director. She was the first but would not be their last.
In the end Trip passed away at the ripe old age of one hundred and seven, enjoying a long life undoubtedly due to the bond he shared with T'Pol, surrounded by four generations of Tuckers in attendance at his bedside.
T'Pol never rebonded, despite many suitors that eagerly sought her hand.
In the end, the galaxy spun on, with heroes and villains aplenty. Woe and weal, tragedy and triumph. The earth marched on toward the future, faltering only on occasion.
The name Enterprise would carry on, reborn with each generation of starship. And always she was the flagship of the fleet.