Star Trek PBEM Sim / Star Trek RPG
OUR STAR TREK PBEM STORIES: LAST MAN STANDING
Far away in another time ... but the same galaxy, just several systems away from
where Pandora's Box was enroute for her first mission...
A small battle raged on with three ships; a heaver cruiser, submersible shuttle
and a much smaller one.
Bzzzzt! Crimson phaser fire lanced out from the Constitution class vessel and
attacked a small ship that they had identified as a hostile target. Just moments
ago, they had beamed over a boarding team to take back this tiny vessel that was
previously on their side until intruders from the past came onboard. Something
had happened and the boarding team stopped reporting their progress.
Their records stated that there were only four minutes left before it was too
late and the small ship escaped and changed the timeline in a direction they did
not want. It was now time to take more extreme measures...
"Fire!" her captain ordered. More red lethal blossoms sprung forth from the
phaser ports on the heavy cruiser. Another deadly volley came towards the
overwhelmed vessel.
The only conscious man left on the tiny ship tried to reroute power to the
shields and change their harmonics ever so slightly. He continued evasive
maneuvers as the thugs below began to regain consciousness. He was glad at least
he had gotten two safely off. The interference of that phaser fire was too great
and the time interval too small to have a successful transmission to transport
himself and the remaining others to safety now. He knew though whatever he did
it was only a matter of time...
The CO of the other ship knew that as well. He continued to press on to keep
this man from beaming off with the others he had rescued and to give his
boarding team more time. "Fire!" he ordered again.
More phaser beams lanced through the vacuum and blasted the tiny ship with
shields greater that expected by the larger vessel. Alas, though they began to
fail.
A small machine, not more than three inches tall, skittered forward and rammed
the man's left boot hard to get his attention on the tiny ship. Then he tapped
the man, who was deep in concentration, and emitted a series of high pitched
sounds.
"No, we don't have any choice," the last man standing told his metal friend.
"We aren't going to make it to the shuttle. There's too much interference to
beam us all out and if we succeed, the shuttle will be destroyed to finish us
and everyone there will die. We have to try this instead. It's our one way out
and the shuttle's only way to survive," the man explained.
The machine made a series of new sounds that sounded like a protest.
"I know," said the man, but this one will be destroyed in approximately two
minutes. I can get three of you over there to help them. That's it," he said.
His hands remained busy at work trying to keep the ship intact enough to beam
the others over and enact the plan to save himself.
"Twenty-five," the man said.
The same machine made some clicking sounds.
"Yes, I understand you are with me. The others will go then. You transport them
when I say NOW. Clear?" he asked.
"Twenty," the man said continuing the countdown. It was followed by a chirp that
the machine affirmed the plan.
At the same time the submersible shuttle tried to get a lock on their last man
on the smaller vessel, but couldn't. They continued to try in vain but with much
hope and effort.
"Fifteen. There you all go. Good bye. Be good," the man ordered the tiny robots.
The orders sounded more like a good bye from parent to children.
"Countdown eleven, please," the man ordered.
The last machine took over the countdown.
"Nine," the machine said.
"Must try.. Ready ... initialize programs: Call Home, One Way Out. Security
clearance transmitting...Admiral..." the man began to say softly as sounds of
the attackers who were rousing below were heard. One noisy assailant coming up
the ladder drowned him out.
"Six," the machine said.
"Now!" he ordered. The machine dutifully activated the transporter enhancer so
to let the other machines leave. They were small enough and non organic enough
to be able to have a chance to make it safely to the waiting shuttle.
"Done?" the man asked. He couldn't hear what happened and couldn't afford the
time to look up.
"Click," the bot affirmed.
"Hop in the boot," the man said. The mechanical transporter operator did so
quickly and held on.
"Three," it said, muffled.
On the shuttle, the other metal beings emerged intact to the surprise of the
three Human crewmen there.
The man on the time ship pushed his last buttons and began to speak into a
special communicator. "Special Delivery... Two..."
"Two," the machine said simultaneously and in synch to the man's identical word.
The next salvo from the larger ship's exploding fire was powerful and brief as
it shot towards the doomed time vessel.
"One..." the machine said, as the pilot of the submersible shuttle tried the
transporter again to get their last man.
The explosion was brief but violent as the tiny time ship blew up. The resulting
explosion for most would have left no doubt that no one had survived.
The shuttle tried one last time to retrieve their comrade. Miraculously, on a
few occasions in history, was a crewman rescued after all seemed lost but theirs
did not arrive. Reluctantly the officer in charge gave the orders to disappeared
into the anomaly, hoping against all the odds their crew member survived in some
other manner.
The Constitution class ship needed to be satisfied all occupants of the smaller
ship had perished, having not a lingering hope for the survival of the last man
there but some small doubt. If they were right on who this agent was he was very
crafty and clever. Seeing the blast and destruction of the ship was not good
enough. They had to be certain and had to have proof. They sent a probe to
investigate. It came back with the news they had wanted. There were only atoms
and a few molecules left of the ship, its cargo, secrets, and occupants.
Satisfied they had completed their task of destroying the time vessel that
people of this past had hijacked from them, the Constitution ship turned to its
next target.
They had no doubt that it would be easy to destroy, except that this time they
tried, there was an anomaly that had appeared from no where like had this dual
capable submersible shuttle. Unlike themselves, it very clearly, it belonged in
this time period of the old monster maroon uniforms.
The heavy cruiser quickly fired torpedoes into the anomaly. They used the
trajectory that the shuttle had been taking and augmented it with a good spread
to be certain of the shuttle's successful destruction.
Then they sent a probe into the anomaly to confirm their success that the
shuttle and the three beings there had been destroyed...
