A New Beginning: Sacrifice by Alpharex submitted: 7.16.02
	Prologue It is a century when the threats of the Borg and the Klingons are no longer present; a century when the Federation has devoted itself to pure science once more, returning to its original mission: to boldly go where no man has gone before. The twenty-seventh century spawned an era of peace and exploration, first contacts with peaceful civilizations who wished friendship between the Federation and themselves. One ship, the flagship of Starfleet, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-G, lead the way. Unfortunately, an incident near the Romulan border raised the tensions of an inevitable war with the Romulans; a wormhole, linking the mirror universe to ours, opened, making it possible for evil counterparts of this universe to infest us, and a new government of ex-Starfleet officers allied with the rejects of several other races of civilizations turned bad, whose only goal was to plunder starships and rule the universe, formed. Starfleet had no choice but to defend itself against these threats facing them. Once again, exploration took a back seat to war and destruction. As before, the Enterprise became the main warship of the Federation. These are its adventures... Chapter 1 His shift was over after fifteen hours of taking the helm of the Enterprise. The young ensign strolled down corridor after corridor, straight to his quarters to fall into bed. However, as he passed Ten Forward, he heard his father, Captain John Rex, call him. "Ensign David Karo Rex, come here please," the captain said in his most serious voice. "Aye, sir," David replied, unaware that he was not in trouble. "I've got something I want to say to you...," the commanding officer continued. Suddenly, Captain Rex's face went from serious to happy as he said, "Ensign Rex, I have seen your loyalty and respect for this ship and its crew. You have also gained the respect of all the crew present here this moment and countless others elsewhere. For this, I hereby promote you to the rank of Junior Grade Lieutenant, with all the rights and privileges thereto. Congratulations, Lieutenant." The captain's stretched out his hand and placed the pin to signify David's new rank in his son's hand. "Thank you, sir," the newly promoted lieutenant said as he started to smile the largest smile humanly possible. "Dismissed!" Captain Rex exclaimed. David disappeared into the crowd of officers in the lounge and went to his quarters. He changed into comfortable clothing and stared at his new rank pins on his uniform, amusing himself with memories of how he got this new rank. However, his reverie was short lived. "Lt. Rex, report to the bridge," the intercom transferred. The voice was that of the captain. "I'm on my way, Captain." This new rank would just be a crumb compared to what was coming to him. But he didn't know what was coming. He would find out soon. But not soon enough. Chapter 2 Captain John Rex stood in the turbolift as he ascended to the bridge. He had just gotten into his bed when he was rudely awakened by Commander L'Rak, the current overnight commander of the bridge. He felt so tired from spending the last four days fighting Romulan starships, new ones at that. The Enterprise was heavily damaged but eventually received repairs. He certainly did not appreciate being disturbed. He expected the explanation to be good for why he was not asleep now. It took him only two minutes to get to the bridge. However, it seemed to take an eternity to him. The turbolift doors slid open. L'Rak immediately rose from the captain's chair. "Captain, We have just received a distress call from the Quassaran System." "That's in the Beta Quadrant. We are in the Alpha Quadrant. I hope it's not too serious. Put it on speakers, Nexar," the captain said as he yawned. "Aye, sir." The bridge went from complete silence to the harmonious sound of musical voices speaking together. The voices were beautiful, but they were in an unknown language. Nexar reluctantly activated the universal translator. Instantly, the voices became understandable. "To anyone who hears this message, we are Lotarrians. We are under attack by a hostile force and we fear that we cannot survive much longer. Please, we need help as soon as possible." As the message stopped, the bridge shook for a brief moment. "Sir," L'Rak reported, "A mysterious force has just locked onto our ship and is pulling us toward the source of the call. We are now traveling at warp 22. At this speed we may be destroyed in less than one hour, unless some type of forcefield is established to prevent that from happening... Sir, we have reached coordinates now. Beginning scans now." "Lt. Rex, report to the bridge." "Understood, Commander," Commander K'Ferris said. K'Ferris was a Klingon, the last of his race. He was also the first officer of the Enterprise. He was gentle when he was not angry. He resented the animal passions of his extinct race. Just then, Lt. Rex stepped onto the bridge. "Lt. Rex, wait there." "Aye, sir" "Well, we had better organize an assault team. Commander K'Ferris, Dr. Sara Carter, you're with me. Bridge to security, have an assault team of ten officers meet me at Transporter Room Two. Lt. Rex, you have the helm. You know the responsibilities as commander of this ship." "Yes, sir. I do." "Sir," L'Rak called out, "The Planet Surface is M class, oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements essential to life. I cannot tell you life sign readings at this time due to strong deposits of a mineral that is blocking the scans. However, I can tell you that it is very capable of acting as a weapon if fired upon. The planet would explode if any of our weapons were to hit the surface. But, the environment is safe for an assault team." "Alright, let's go," the captain said as the three officers walked toward the turbolift. "Captain," Counselor Alexis Tenrek warned, "I object to this course of action." Counselor Tenrek was the daughter of a Terran mother and a Betazoid father. She did not like the fact that the captain went on dangerous away-missions. Alexis was often right about situations, whether dangerous or not. But Captain Rex sometimes didn't listen to her. "The objection is noted, thank you, Counselor." And at that, the captain, first officer, and chief doctor disappeared into the turbolift. When they reached the transporter room, the assault team was waiting. They all went in the room together and stepped onto the padd. The transporter padd was large and could beam a maximum of fifteen people at a time. Its walls were blue; the floor panels were red. "Energize," the captain ordered. Suddenly, the assault team disappeared in fifteen columns of transporter energy. As soon as they materialized on the planet's surface, they pulled out their phasers and tricorders. "Phasers on heavy stun," Captain Rex commanded. "Sir," K'ferris reported, "I cannot scan the area. Too much interference from the minerals." "Same here," Dr. Carter said. And just as suddenly as they appeared on the planet, aliens approached the away team and began to fire weapons at them. These aliens sounded different from the aliens from the distress call. They seemed to speak English and some other language. They were disgusting as well. Slime oozed from their bodies, their eyes were red; their skins were blackish-green. Their weapons were not visible. They seemed to just protrude from the aliens' grotesque forms. "Ahhh! Some help for the Lotarrians. Well, you're too late for that. They're all dead. They were bait to lure you here. We have a terrible surprise awaiting you," one of them said in their gross voices. "We will avenge them. You will not go unpunished for their murders. We don't know who you are or what you want, but the slaughter will stop here. You will not get your ugly hands on us. You deserve a fate worse than death for what you have done," Captain Rex yelled from behind a rock. Everyone was firing. Rex hit two. Then, Dr. Carter went down after getting three. She was alive. However, one of the aliens carried her off. K'Ferris hit ten, then he was hit as well and carried off by another alien. All the security officers were dead, though. Finally, after phasering fifteen aliens, Rex felt a beam hit him in the chest. And with that, he blacked out. Chapter 3 "Sir," the communications officer said urgently, "Captain Rex and the away team have been ambushed and captured by a hostile force." At that very moment, David almost rocketed out of the command chair in terror of the words from the Founder communications officer. "You can't be serious, Nexar." "I'm afraid that I am serious, sir. And I can't pin their location anymore, there seems to be some sort of magnetic shield that is disrupting my attempts. I shall continue to try to get them back on my scanners." "Very well, Lieutenant. Commander L'Rak, any signs of the away team on your scanners?" "Negative, but I will continue my attempts," the Vulcan science officer said. "Nexar, open a channel to Starfleet." "Aye, sir. Channel open." "Starfleet, this is Lt. Rex of the USS Enterprise. Come in, Starfleet." Suddenly the view of the planet was replaced with the face of Fleet Admiral Andrew Lawrence. "This is Starfleet. Fleet Admiral Andrew Lawrence speaking," the gray bearded man announced. "Admiral, Captain John Rex and an away team consisting of Commander K'Ferris, Dr. Sara Carter, and ten security officers have been ambushed and captured by hostile aliens. I was left in command of the ship until he returned. What do you suggest I do, sir?" asked David. "I would send down an assault team and sa...." the screen blanked out as the ship shook violently. "Report," David shouted. "An enemy vessel of unknown origin is attacking us with an unknown weapon. It's firing again," reported L'Rak right before the ship shuddered again. "Raise advanced shields, L'Rak." "Aye" "Advanced shields up, sir," said the tactical officer. "Fire all weapons at that ship." "No damage to the vessel," L'Rak said. "Keep firing," David ordered the tactical officer. "Aye, sir." "Sir, sickbay reports fifteen casualties," Nexar announced, "Five more are expected to die very soon if we don't get rid of this attacker, sir." "Understood." "LT. REX, WE MUST GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE WE DIE," shouted Chief Engineer Garret Dassir. Mr. Dassir was a Bajoran, who often displayed an extremely short temper. He hardly had any friends aboard the Enterprise. He barely even talked with them. He was someone that lived by the philosophy of work with no talk before, during, or after his shift. It was a miracle for him to even get assigned to the Enterprise. He was, however, a great chief engineer and a loyal officer. "We can't leave the away team on the planet surface, Mr. Dassir," snapped David. "I'm not asking you to leave, I'm ordering you." "You cannot order me to do anything while I'm in command. I know you outrank me, but I was given command of this vessel until the return of the captain or Commander K'Ferris. If you want to pursue this further, I can arrest you on the charge of conspiracy to commit mutiny." "Fine, you want to kill us, go ahead and stay here." "We will not get killed, I will see to that, Mr. Dassir. Rex out." "Sir," L'Rak shouted from his console as another weapon hit, "Starboard shields at 35 percent, aft shields are gone, forward shields gone. Deflectors will collapse in 50 seconds. Hull breaches on decks 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 19, 24, and 25. Engineering decks are still intact, however, Dassir reports that a warp core breach is inevitable within the next twenty minutes. Casualties thus far, 150 and climbing rapidly. The warp nacelles are destroyed. Impulse power is the only means of propulsion now. Both Torpedo Rooms one and two are lost. We only have phasers and special weapons to defend ourselves with. We will lose those too if we get hit much harder. No other damage ha... Correction, that last blast just knocked all systems but the following offline: Life support, Special weapons, twenty-two percent backup shields. The screen is offline. The enemy ship is damaged as well. Shields at 40 percent. Propulsion is gone. Hull breaches throughout the aft half of the ship. Weapons are charging again, though. They will be fully charged in five minutes." "So both of us are nearly powerless. Can we fire our special weapons at them?" "Not without destroying ourselves, we need to be at least 800 meters away from them to do so, sir." "This is just wonderful," David snorted sarcastically. "Weapons fire in 4 minutes." Suddenly, David had an idea. "Lt. Dassir, eject the warp core." "What!?!" "You heard the order, Dassir. Do it!" "Yes, sir." The core then slid out of the bottom of the beautiful ship and floated in space for two minutes. The enemy vessel shot it, thinking it was a weapon. Instantly, the core exploded and the villains' ship became immersed in the explosion. Soon, the whole ship split into thousands of little scraps of metal. The whole bridge went up with a shout of victory. Everyone applauded David. Until... "Sir, we are receiving a message from the surface," Nexar announced. "On speakers." The bridge went quiet as the voice of Captain Rex began to speak. "Enterprise, this is Captain Rex. I'm in a prison camp currently and have been selected to be killed as well as all the other members of the away team after these aliens clone us and infiltrate the Enterprise. Beware of any further hails that come from here. I have barely managed to sneak to a communications computer and send this message. Lt. Rex, you must destroy the planet. Fortunately, they have not yet spread across the universe. But you must stop them from doing so. I know you probably will be stubborn, so I will make it a direct order to destroy this planet. If you do not, I may not be able to punish you, but you will involuntarily sentence the universe to death. I must go before I'm discovered missing from the slaves at the camp. It was an honor serving with you ladies and gentlemen, and I'm sure you feel the same for me. Goodbye. And David, I am proud to have been your father. I know that there have been rough times between us, but they didn't change a thing about my love toward you. I say a special goodbye to you. Rex out." David attempted to sit, only to fall to the floor. He started to tear up. No. I must keep it within myself. He held it back. It hurt, but he did it. What would he do? Would he sacrifice his father, the one who raised him, strengthened him, taught him? He could not decide. However, he eventually would have to. The safety of the universe, or the safety of his father. This was his choice. What would the next command be?