1x03 - "RAPID DESCENT"

Written By Alex Matthews

Based on 'Star Trek' 
created by Gene Roddenberry

STARRING

Evangeline Lilly as COMMANDER MYRA SHAW

Jai Courtney as LT. COMMANDER CARL KELHAM

Jack Harrer as LT. FINLEY MCKENCHIE

Marc Ruffalo as LT. PERRY ALLEN (R.N.)

Temuera Morrison as COMMANDER ALDRED 

WITH 

Cobie Smulders as COMMANDER T'MUR

Jeffrey Wright as CAPTAIN EDWARD DONOVAN

“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan fiction is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use. No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”

Copyright (c) 2019

Produced by Sojournerverse Productions

Green disruptor fire rakes against the now-unprotected hull of the Starship Ascendant, leaving deep gouges that breach the interior. Precious air escapes into the cold vacuum of space, frozen in an instant.
From the rear shuttlebay flew several small craft - tactical flyers, remote-controlled drones designed to even the odds when a starship had to battle against superior numbers. But even with all the advancements the Federation had made in artificial intelligence, they were no match for the Romulan warships. They were destroyed in seconds...

*             *             *

After an intense 14-hour shift checking over micro-fractures in the upper warp-core assembly from the rough passage through the anomaly, all Carl Kelham wanted when he got back to his quarters was to fall face-first into his bed and sleep away the next 14...
But when an intense burst of energy struck the hull of the Ascendant, waking him with a jolt and almost throwing him clear across the room, he realized that wasn't in the cards.
As he pulled himself up, grimacing as blaring alert sirens echoed loudly, his gaze caught the sight of large chunks of debris floating past the large windows that took up most of the starboard side of his quarters. Hull plating, freshly replicated and installed only hours earlier, drifted past, ruined by huge scorch marks.
[All hands to Battle Stations,] T'Mur's voice with its usual Vulcan calm was incongruous and eerie, what with the intense pounding the ship was taking. But it helped Kelham focus on the here and now, as he jumped out of bed, still wearing his greasy and stained duty uniform. As he made his way towards the cabin's door, the ship shuddered again, the sound of metal twisting and buckling filling Kelham with cold dread, "Keep it together, sweetheart," he muttered, feeling the strain that the hull was going through vibrate through his body. He didn't need to see his reflection in the now-broken mirror to know he looked a mess, but that didn't matter in the slightest right now. He needed was to get to Engineering as fast as possible. 
As Kelham finally managed to exit the cabin and stumble onto the residential corridor on Deck 10 for senior officers, his breath caught in his throat, as he inhaled the thick stench of burned ODN relays.  Smoke filled the air, causing his eyes to tear almost immediately, as he vainly waved it away. Almost all of the LCARS consoles that lined the wall were cracked or shattered, conduits exposed and sparking. 
Another barrage of whatever it was that was attacking the ship knocked Kelham to his knees. He winced in pain as a piece of panel sliced his palm open as he tried to stop himself from falling, only partially succeeding. 
[Stardrive section hull integrity down to 12%], the computer intoned, voice even colder and emotionless then T'Mur's. Kelham ignored his injured hand, the blood trickling onto the deck. A horrified realization hit him - there was no point even trying to get to Engineering now. If the integrity of the secondary hull was already that low, then that meant--
[All hands, abandon ship.] It was the death knell he'd been waiting for. The last blasts had pushed the already-weakened space-frame of the Ascendant beyond breaking point. [Repeat, all hands to escape pods. Abandon ship.]
Part of Kelham still wanted to head to Engineering, to do something - anything - he could to save this superb ship from such an ignominious fate. But he knew it was too late. The damage had been done. Now all he could do was try to survive. 
A short bust of hacking coughs caught his attention, as he looked around for the source. He saw the shadow of a figure venturing out from the half-open door of Holodeck 2. It took a couple of seconds from them to emerge from the smoke and become recognizable, "Perry? Is that you?!"
Perry Allen looked at him in a daze. Eyes unfocused. When he saw the large bleeding gash that chief nurse had sustained, Kelham realized why he looked so out of it. Concussion, most probably, "Chief Kelham?" He stumbled forward, holding a hand to stem the flow of blood, "What's going on?"
"No idea, Perry," he admitted honestly, bracing himself against the wall as another violent series of tremors rocked the deck again. "But my guess is where under attack." 
"But who--?" Allen didn't finished as another voice cut him off, "Someone-- anyone!" it called out with desperation, "Help me!"
Kelham's blood ran cold as it hit him he knew whose voice that was, "Myra?!"
Grabbing Allen by the arm, he pulled the chief nurse forward as he made his way to where Myra's voice was coming from. He rounded the corner, to where the turbo-lift lobby was, and froze at the sight in front of him.
Myra Shaw lay on the deck, her legs pinned to the deck by a large piece of what had once been the conduit housing for an EPS relay. She was vainly trying to lift it, to no avail, as she looked over and saw him standing there. 
"Carl!" she called, voice filling with hope. He could hear the soft touch of pain in her words, "Oh, thank the Gods!"
He ran to her side, "Are you okay?" It was a stupid question, one he felt an idiot for even thinking, but the words had tumbled from his mouth before he realized it. 
She shook her head, tears in her eyes, but they weren't just due to the smoke. "Please, you have to help us, it's the captain!"
He followed her gaze, to where he saw the prone form of Captain Donovan slumped against the bulkhead. His eyes were open, staring out emptily. Kelham knew just from that, that it was already too late. He didn't need to watch as Perry felt for a pulse. He knew he wouldn't find one, "I'm sorry, Commander. He's gone." 
Shaw bit back a choked sob, "We were just in the turbo-lift, we were talking when everything--" 
"Hey," Kelham did his best to be reassuring, but it wasn't one of his finer points, "It's not your fault."
She shook her head, trying to again push the debris off, but only succeeded in shifting it a little before grimacing in pain, "We need to get to the bridge."
"You heard the order," Kelham responded, "We have to get to an escape pod, or the Main Shuttlebay." 
She looked at him, anger filling her gaze, "We have to protect the ship!"
"The ship's already gone, Myra!" he yelled back, furious at her stubborn inability to grasp what to him was obvious, "We have to get out of here while we can."
[Warning,] the computer alert announced, [Imminent hull breach in Deck 10, Sections 22 through 47.]
Kelham's blood ran cold. Sections 22 through 47... 
They were currently in Section 34.
Shaw looked up at him, anger fading, her lip quivering as she tried to hold herself together. He couldn't blame her - here she was, the ship's Chief of Security, and when it came to the Ascendant's final moments, she was stuck ten decks away from the bridge, trapped under a piece of tritanium alloy, when she should have been at her station. 
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Kelham put his arms around her as best he could, as Allen sat himself down on the deck, wiping tears from his eyes.
"It's okay," he replied, just as softly, nuzzling into her neck, "It's o--"
A deafening boom cut him off, followed by a sudden deafening rushing of air he felt pulling at him, as everything went cold and black...

*             *             *

Sitting at the helm of the Shuttlecraft Cornwell, one of the Type-17 shuttles only recently berthed to the Ascendant, Finley McKenchie tried as hard as he could to keep the ship stable, as it rocked in the death throes of its mothership. 
Next to him sat Commander T'Mur, her face now marred by a thin cut from which flowed emerald-green blood, "Anything?"
She responded with a curt shake of the head, "Sensors are still having difficulty." She worked the console in front of her with alacrity, running through several more scan cycles. 
An alert chime was quickly silenced as she studied readout screens, "Wait. I am detecting several signals. Locking on now."
McKenchie noted his own displays, grinning in relief, "I'm picking them up too!" His elation vanished as he saw new data appear, "Commander, the hull in that section is about to breach!"
"Activating transporter," the Vulcan replied. McKenchie stole a look behind him as the shimmering curtain of transporter energy filled the aft of the cockpit compartment--
--and his jaw dropped as from it formed the figures of Myra Shaw, Carl Kelham and Perry Allen, all dropping to the deck as soon as the beam released them.
"Perry!" he cried out, horrified at how close his boyfriend almost came to suffocating in the coldness of space. A stern look from T'Mur kept him from bounding forward to take Perry in his arms. "Sorry, Commander."
"I understand your emotional reaction, Lieutenant," she scolded, "But please keep your attention on your piloting."
She stood, swaying ever so slightly, just enough to remind him of the injuries that she had sustained during her escape from the collapsing bridge, "I will see to them."
Returning his focus to the helm readouts, he heard Commander Shaw ask through chattering teeth, "What happened?"
"Romulan warships, Commander," T'Mur replied as she waved a medical tricorder over each of the three in turn, "We were caught completely off-guard. Our shields could not handle the assault."
"Romulans?! McKenchie could hear the open incredulity in Carl Kelham's tone, as he shrugged off T'Mur's attempt to scan him, "I'm fine, T'Mur, just look after these two."
"Why did the Romulans attack us?" Perry voice was so tinged with confusion and pain, it made Finley want to sweep him up in his arms. 
"I cannot answer that," T'Mur answered, as she closed the tricorder. "Your leg is fractured, Commander Shaw. Mr. Allen, Commander Aldred is in the aft compartment with the surviving bridge crew. He has medical supplies but lacks any significant training. Are you able to help?"
Perry nodded slowly, still trying to understand what the hell was going on, a feeling McKenchie knew well. He helped Shaw to her feet, as T'Mur cocked an eyebrow, "The captain?"
It was Kelham that answered, "He didn't make it, Commander."
McKenchie felt the words stab at him in the chest. Donovan hadn't been the warmest man or easy to get along with, but he had been an excellent commanding officer, one who pushed for the best in his crew. 
"Most regretful," T'Mur commented, just as the shuttle shook, and warning alarms blared. McKenchie swallowed a lump of fear that formed in his throat, "Commander, look!"
He pointed out the large viewport, at the sight of Romulan ships hammering away at the broken form of the Ascendant. Before their eyes, the hull split in two, the secondary hull shearing away from the largely-intact saucer section. The graceful pylons holding the nacelles cracked and buckled, finally splintering away from the hull and tumbling into the void. 
The Ascendant was no more...
The Cornwell shook viciously, as T'Mur stumbled back to her console, "Report!"
McKenchie grimaced at his readings, "Some kind of surge from the planet's energy field, Commander." He stared in amazement at the sensor feed, "It's pulling the saucer section in towards the planet." 
T'Mur checked her own displays, "Commander Kelham, it seems our stabilizers are out of alignment. Please repair them at once.”
"You got it," the Australian replied, seating himself at the port-side engineering station, as Perry helped Shaw hobble out of the cockpit. "What about the Romulans?"
"They appear to be using the saucer section for target practice," T'Mur answered. It may have been Finley's imagination, but he could have sworn he heard a hint of anger in her voice, "Correction. They are using the last of the escape pods."
"Bastards," Kelham muttered, as he furiously worked his console, "We can't let them get away with it!"
"What would you propose we do, Commander?" T'Mur was as pragmatic as ever, "We are one of less then a dozen shuttles to escape. We do not have the necessary fire power to defend ourselves, let alone commit an act of vengeance."
"Doesn't mean we shouldn't try!" Kelham spat angrily. T'Mur responded by arching an eyebrow, "The logical solution is to retreat." 
McKenchie didn't want to get in between two senior officers but realized he had no choice, "The Romulans are shifting their attention our way. Whatever we're gonna do, we better do it quickly, sirs." he worked the console, falling into the familiar patterns that flying was to him, "Initiating evasive pattern Omicron 4."
He dropped the shuttle 'down', avoiding the disruptor blast one Romulan ship fired their way. He knew the Cornwell was a tough little ship, but it wouldn't hold up for more then a few seconds to the firepower that had ripped the Ascendant apart.
"I'm bringing the warp drive on-line," Kelham finally said, begrudgingly. He knew T'Mur was right, even if it stunk like horseshit. 
"The Romulans are attempting to reacquire weapons-lock," T'Mur called out, "Initiate warp drive as soon as possible, course of your choosing, Mr. McKenchie."
McKenchie shook his head, feeling close to panic, "I can't. Something's wrong. The warp engines aren't responding."
Kelham glared at his screens, "It's that damn energy field, it's kicking out some kind of interference that's stopping the warp field from forming."
"Full impulse, Lieutenant," T'Mur ordered quickly, "Get us away from the planet."
McKenchie, his mouth agape, didn't reply. Instead, he looked out of the forward viewport, "Oh my God..."
Kelham followed his gaze, and understood. 
The disruptors of two Romulan warships were battering hard on the Ascendent’s saucer section. Riddled with breaches, the forward outer hull glowed a vibrant orange is it fell into the atmosphere, flames lapped the forward sections of the ship, the hull breaking down. The Ascendant was falling, the irony of the ship’s name wasn’t lost on Kelham. He watched, his heart braking for the ship he had still be getting to know. 
The Romulans moved off, allowing the Ascendant to plummet through the atmosphere of a nameless world, deep within the Krona-Expanse. Second later, she was gone, bathed in fire as she fell through the strange energy field of the planet...
The Cornwell shook violently, as a lightning-like strike of disruptor fire scoured it's shields, pushing it towards the planet. Too close...
"Dammit!" McKenchie blurted, "We're caught in whatever reach that field has." He worked his console, but it was useless - the panel wasn't responding, "I can't break us free."
"All available power to the engines, Commander Kelham," T'Mur ordered sternly. After a few seconds, though, Carl knew it was useless, "It's too strong! Even at full power, we couldn't break free!"
T'Mur closed her eyes for a moment, before nodding in acceptance, "Then divert power to structural integrity and maneuvering thrusters."
"All hands, brace for crash landing."

*             *             *

The Cornwell brushed up against the energy field, the put-upon shields holding back as much of the exotic energy as they could. Plunging further downward into the strange new world, following what little remained of the Starship Ascendant, as it too disappeared from sight... 

The End