A Doomsday Like Any Other Part 2

Captain's Log, Stardate 40205.1

A Doomsday Machine is on a course for Ectair, a planet in The Outback. The USS Niven has executed the Kirk Defense, but it was deemed unsuccessful.

Exploitation

As we made our way back to Ectair to put together a contingency plan, we witnessed three Romulan ships coming out of warp. Soon after, we received a hail from the Pride 'o Rigel. O'Flaherty announced that after a second sweep of the wreckage area, he was able to find a piece that presumably was attached to the conical device we purchased. He was in talks with the Romulans for a trade, but wanted to give us the first chance at it.

The president of Ectair hailed us as soon as we were within range and was very anxious to get on board per our agreement. I told him that all was not lost yet and that we would be in touch if things became hopeless. Helm maneuvered in a weaving pattern in front of the Doomsday Machine in order to buy us a little bit of time. The Romulans then hailed us saying they wanted to help. Link immediately tensed, but their reasoning sounded plausible. If Ectair were destroyed, the Romulans would lose a significant source of trade with the Federation. Though not fully convinced of their motives, we agreed to work together to try to stop the Doomsday Machine.

We entered talks with O'Flaherty about the item alongside the Romulans. O'Flaherty said that he would simply give us the piece along with full use of his ship in exchange for full salvage rights of the Doomsday Machine. Considering the need for research and the fact that we could not risk having so much neutronium potentially being sold to the highest bidder, I offered a percentage of the worth of salvage instead. After a quick calculation and knowing that even 1% would be far more than needed to feed his crew, fix his ship, and still have plenty left over, O'Flaherty agreed.

Working With the Enemy

The science and engineering teams, along with an equal complement of Romulans, were able to fix the IFF transponder and we beamed it aboard the Pride 'o Rigel. There, the transponder was able to stop the movement of the Doomsday Machine and a hatch opened in the back. A smaller team was sent out to investigate the actual machine. First Officer Rodriguez and Captain Frazier headed up the internal team and Sergent VanDriessen kept an eye on the team remaining aboard the Pride o' Rigel.

Due to the stop in movement, however, our synchronized maneuvers with the Romulan vessels caused one of the Romulan ships to get hit by the Doomsday Machine. Commander Tal of the flagship vessel hailed us demanding surrender and that the Doomsday Machine is going to be taken in the name of the Romulan Star Empire. Incensed, I refused saying that this mission was initiated and executed by the Federation and we intend to finish it. I issued a red alert, brought our shields up and a fire fight ensued.

One of the Romulan ships took a direct hit from the Doomsday Machine and after sustaining plenty of damage from us, the other two jumped into warp and fled the scene. The Doomsday Machine self-destructed and though it suffered 1,500 casualties, the planet was safe.

Aftermath

According to debrief sessions, inside the Doomsday Machine, the Romulans turned on them and stunned most of our crew. Captain Frazier made quick work of handling the situation and was able to drag most of our people out before the self-destruct sequence counted down.

While this was going on, the Romulans had made a move for a similar ambush aboard the Pride 'o Rigel, but VanDriessen was able to subdue them and Corporal Tom Hansen saw O'Flaherty's men reaching for their weapons so they were taken out as well. O'Flaherty, along with his crew, were thrown in the brig and according to their side of the story, they were coming to our aid when the Romulans turned on us. His story was hard to believe, but without concrete evidence, there was nothing that could be done about him. Regardless, due to teamwork of the Niven crew, a crisis was averted with no casualties.