Act 1 – Report to the Bridge

Having separated into two teams, Katsu and Orlan are dispatched to the ship’s bridge to activate the ship’s vessel’s self-destruct sequence in the hopes it will cause the anomaly to implode. As they approach the bridge they find it sealed due to an environmental hazard, Katsu’s tricorder warning of a massive spike in chroniton radiation. After a quick bypass, the pair elect to enter the bridge together, making use of their combined skills to complete the task before they are overwhelmed by the growing anomaly.

As they enter the bridge they find it mostly deserted, save for two skeletal forms in the command seat and at tactical. They are both dressed in the familiar dark blue jumpsuits, on their breast are four pips and three pips respectively. At the main operations console and the helm station large metallic units have been bolted on, they are clearly Klingon in design but neither of our team can ascertain exactly what they are doing. At the far end of the Bridge, in front of the main viewscreen, a green swirling mass phases in and out of existence.

Katsu quickly identifies the appropriate command sequence to access the ship’s core system but also noted that a failsafe had been enacted requiring a biometric authorisation to release. They manage to quickly retrieve some sample data from the skeleton in the command seat, risking further exposure. As Katsu steps back to the console a sharp high-pitched wine begins to fill the bridge. With no obvious source and assuming it to be a symptom of the ongoing anomaly, they continue their work. With the lockout lifted Orlan arranges for the computer to automatically release the magnetic constraints on the ship’s antimatter reserves, causing them to explode violently on contact with the metallic container. This should be sufficient to overfeed the anomaly and cause it to collapse. Orlan sets a 10-minute timer and they begin to run back to the Waverrider.

As they step through the door to leave the bridge the whining grows louder and Orlan looks back to see the familiar form of Mr. D beginning to materialise at the front of the bridge. The rippling blue and green mass begins to fluctuate wildly, phasing in and out of existence, stuck on the cusp of rematerialisation as he is affected by the chroniton radiation. Orlan races back and rushes to him, attempting to grab him and pull him from the anomaly but his arm passes straight through his form. As Orlan struggles back to his feet he notices a strange effect on his arm where the flesh appears to be aged by its brief contact with his body.

Katsu, realising that Orlan is not behind her returns to the bridge, finding Orlan struggling with the phased form of Mr. D. Acutely aware of their limited time, she levels her shoulder toward him and runs with her full might. As she stumbles to the deck, she collapses on the form of Mr. D, now fully materialised. Unfortunately, the anomaly has taken its toll and he has aged by several decades since he departed from the Waverider. Unable to take the time to explain or investigate, the three hobble back towards the docking ring hoping that Shaw and Kaz have prepared the shuttle.

Act 2 – What does the Vulcan Science Directorate know anyway

Whilst Katsu and Orlan work on the Bridge, the second pair find themselves at a damaged intersection as they attempt to navigate the ship’s unfamiliar corridors. All three paths ahead of them are blocked by structural damage but Shaw successfully identifies that each of the 4 rooms in this hallway would have access to the ship’s Jefferies tubes and crawlspaces. From beyond the two forward doors, they can hear muffled voices, barely discernable, whilst the two behind are silent.

Opting to investigate the room to their forward right in the hopes that they can easily bypass the damage, Shaw activates the doorway to find a storage room, mostly empty save for a large crate. In the corner, a trio of Klingon bodies are arrayed whilst, behind the crate, the tops of two heads are visible.

Shaw hedges his bets and calls out “I’m Starfleet”, causing two officers to emerge from behind the crate with their weapons trained on him. A panicked young Human lieutenant and a stoic Vulcan ensign step out, both have a number of minor injuries whilst the lieutenant clutches his side in agony as they step forward.

A tense standoff occurs, the NX officers note Shaw and Kaz’s unfamiliar uniform and the disruptor pistol in Shaw’s hand, which he had taken of a foe earlier in the mission. Our team attempts to clarify their situation without revealing too much sensitive information but the discussion only continues after Shaw surrenders his disruptor. Unfortunately, Shaw and Kaz find themselves forced to reveal they are from the future and as proof they offer one of their tricorders to the pair in the hopes it will assuage their fears. Though clearly a violation of the temporal prime directions the pair decide it is their only option to escape a firefight.

Despite the Vulcan officer’s insistence that ‘The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined that time travel is impossible’, the young Lieutenant is partly convinced and after noticing Kaz’s medkit asks for their help to treat a disruptor wound on his abdomen. Whilst Kaz provides what assistance he can, Shaw notices the bodies of the Klingon officers in the corner and goes to examine them for any useful equipment. When he tries to take their additional disruptors the Vulcan officer threatens him, still suspicious of his intentions. Despite Shaw’s offerings to share the weapons and equipment, the officer is unmoved and a face-off is only diffused by Kaz’s announcement that he is finished and the Lieutenant is willing to allow them to pass through the room.

Shaw suddenly remembers the Klingon prisoner, left in the hallway during the standoff so as not to inflame tensions. As Kaz races to the door, he is already gone, a glimpse of his heels turning the corridor they had come down. Frustrated by their forgetfulness, the pair make their way into the Jefferies tubes as the NX officers continue their preparations to move deeper into the ship.

Act 3 – The Negotiator

Our teams reconvene at the docking collar to find a firefight underway. A trio of NX officers exchange phaser fire with three Klingon officers who have taken a position at the docking portal. With time ticking down Katsu and Orlan highlight the need to evacuate. Shaw takes the initiative and leaps forward, opening fire to reinforce the NX officers, catching the Klingons off guard. White the two sides continue to trade fire, Kaz quickly creates a makeshift smoke grenade, combining several chemicals in his medkit to emit a form of anaesthetic gas. As he lobs the device into the trio of Klingons, Shaw instructs the team to prepare to focus their fire and as their foes stumble out from cover all of their three opponents are neutralised.

As the smoke clears the lead NX officer, a Tellerite Lieutenant Commander begins to question the team, sharing similar concerns to the pair Shaw & Kaz encountered earlier.

“Who are you?” He asks with his phase pistol still in hand.

“We’re Starfleet, but a different one,” Kaz replied as he began to quickly examine Mr. D.

“Not a Starfleet I think I have any interest in knowing.” The lieutenant commander eyes Shaw suspiciously, as he monitors the corridors for any further threats.

The team proceed carefully as they answer the man’s questions, mindful not to reveal too much information but with the constraints of time against them inform him that they must continue onwards towards the Waverider and evactuate. As the Tellerite begins to understand following a number of veiled references to the ship’s chroniton weapon experiment, he allows them passage through the docking collar.

As the two parties from different times begin to part ways, there is a moment where the Tellerite officer appears ready to ask for help in evacuating. Instead, he lets a small sigh out.

“We can’t come with you can we?”

Orlan shakes his head and the teams go their separate ways, the sound of phaser fire and shouting coming from the corridor as the airlock doors shut.

As the team update each other whilst they make preparations for launch it becomes clear that the frozen timeline has resumed aboard the ship.

Act 4 – Manners

The team quickly undocks the Waverider from the wreck only to find themselves surrounded by three B’Rel birds-of-prey, waiting just beyond the edge of the growing storm. The lead vessel bears the same identification of the ship they had accidentally destroyed earlier on their arrival and they notice the wreckage is now absent. As they discuss options the lead vessel opens a channel, a scarred face appearing on the comm screen.

“I am Captain O’Keng, state your business.”

“We’re just leaving!” Orlan shouts across the comm link, preparing to run as the countdown continues towards zero.

“I do not think so, prepare to be boarded.” The Klingon captain smiles, fully aware that the vessel is outgunned, though unaware of the present danger from the Pioneer wreck and the storm.

Aiming to channel his previously successful Klingon negotiation tactics, Shaw interrupts the conversation. “If you harm one plate on our ship, the full power of the Fourth Fleet will come raining down upon you and your ashes will dust the path to Gre’thor.”

The Klingon captain allows a laugh to escape his lips.

“You should teach your friend better manners. Maybe in another time.”

With a command off-screen, the channel is cut off and the three Klingon ships begin to close in as the anomaly swells and envelops the trio of ships. Orlan brings the Waverider around the ship, two large yellow lifeboats are launched from the wreck’s port side. Leaping into the storm on emergency propulsion both are suddenly caught by swelling anomalies attracted to their energetic thrusters. Katsu’s quick scan reveals both are inhabited by a half dozen life signs and after a quick discussion, Orlan takes the initiative and pilots towards the nearest lifeboat on his course out of the anomaly.

As Orlan nimbly evades some disruptor fire, Gik attempts to lock on to the life signs in the first boat. Reminded of the risks of materialising them as Kaz points out the frail body of Mr D, Gik opts to store their patterns in the buffer to rematerialize later aboard Pioneer. He successfully acquires 4 of the 6 life signs as the Klingons continue to fire on them but realises that with the buffer full, they cannot transport any more survivors. As Orlan alters his course towards the second lifeboat Gik and Katsu attempt to capture it with a tractor beam. To port they can see the anomaly beginning to devour the first escape pod and suddenly find the speed of the Waverider slowed significantly as the second escape pod becomes engulfed in the familiar green energy of the anomaly. Despite Katsu’s attempts to reroute power to the engines, they cannot escape the storm.

As the timer clicks to zero a silent explosion occurs at the heart of the storm. Within the wreck’s antimatter containment units, electromagnetic fields collapse and the molecules of antimatter explode. As a white-hot wave of energy erupts, the chroniton energy of the storm begins to feed on the explosion, fluctuating wildly. Aware that the tractor beam is keeping them anchored Gik attempts to rematerialize the patterns in the buffer to replace them with the life signs from the second lifeboat. What begins to form is a mutilated horror and Gik stops the materialisation before it can complete, mercifully releasing those life signs into the heart of the explosion. He collects the survivors from the second lifeboat, storing them in the now empty buffer, then Katsu releases the tractor beam and they leap free from the storm. The anomaly at the storm’s heart erupts with energy, and huge green talons of vicious subspace energy claw at the Klingon ships, pulling them in and consuming them, the wreck and the storm as a whole.

As the bright light clears, Waverider is left alone in space, the storm and all its terror having disappeared to another place or another time.

Epilogue

Seven days later, the team awake in their bunks on Waverider to the chirruping sound of the shuttle’s commlink, the grey shining hull of Pioneer slowly slides into view through the forward portal. The team are quiet as they dock with the mothership and are all whisked away to the briefing room for classified debriefings. The rescued officers gaze wide-eyed as they rematerialise on the deck of an unimaginable future before a Starfleet cruiser collects them, set to return them to Earth for debriefing and reacclimation.

As Pioneer’s nacelles creak into position and propel them to warp, the pristine Carina system is left behind. Whilst its inhabitants are wholly ignorant of their brush with destruction, our team begin to realise they are all changed.

For they have witnessed something they can never speak about to another soul; entropy’s demise.