Lost Planet of the Gods (New Order episode)

The battle for Gamma Hydra IV is raging, while high above, Chavin is sent to investigate the origin of a mysterious object which leads her to a ship thought lost 200 years before.

Synopsis

Prologue

The episode starts during the events of …The Hardest Part. Captain Hunt and Lieutenant Commander Dace are coordinating the search for Commander Chavin from the Runabout Willamette. Dace detects an explosion on the surface of a planet, so they go down to investigate, finding Chavin unconscious near the landing site. They bring her aboard the Runabout and are able to revive her.

Act One

A month later the fighting on Gamma Hydra IV is still raging. Major Dergos is sent with a platoon of Marines to find and destroy the Romulan staging base. Soon after departure, Dergos' men stumble across an enemy battalion massing to attack the Marine base. After a tense firefight, Dergos calls in close air support from Commander Dace, which destroys the enemy. On board the USS Beliskner, Chavin is being examined by Doctor Sorel, who is giving her a checkup following her ejection.

Act Two

Having arrived at the first suspected staging area, which has been abandoned, Dergos allows his men a quick respite. While resting, Dergos witnesses the downing of a hopper by enemy fire. He contacts the Brigade HQ, which denies any assets toward rescuing the crew of the downed craft. He sets out with his unit to find them himself. On board the Beliskner, Chavin has persuaded Sorel into reinstating her to flight status, and now sits on alert in a fighter with Cadet Adora Percival. Chavin is trying, rather unsuccessfully to solve a sudoku puzzle. She gives up and offers the puzzle to Percival, who solves it very quickly, Chavin accuses her of cheating, but Percival claims that she is just good at them. Meanwhile, Hunt is on the bridge when a fighter arrives with a mysterious object, which it beams to the transporter room. An inspection reveals that it is a Log buoy from the NX-class Daedalus, which was believed lost in 2156.

Act Three

Hunt awakens Chavin, who is sleeping at her post, in her fighter, and instructs her to find the origin of the buoy and determine the fate of the Daedalus. Dergos and his team arrive at the downed hopper. They find that it was attached to the USS Seahawk, and that only one crewman survived. The survivor, a Lieutenant Commander Thaddeus Andrews, tries to tell Dergos that he has vital intelligence concerning his target, but Dace does not have time to listen, and Andrews soon slips into unconsciousness. Dergos takes a small team to eliminate the Anti-Aircraft Battery that downed the hopper, so that a rescue hopper can arrive and airlift Andrews out for medical attention. Arriving at the site where the buoy was discovered, Chavin decides to search the nearby Mutara class planetary nebula, for any signs, a task which requires Percival to extend the fighter's Enhanced Sensor Package.

Act Four

Percival is scanning the nebula when she detects a small planet. As she cannot get a good reading of it, she boosts the sensors to compensate. moment's later, She detects a Spatial torpedo, which they are able to narrowly avoid. The Daedalus then appears and fires at them, Chavin chooses not to launch decoys as that will show their hand later. Unfortunately, this proves useless as the fighter is hit by Phase cannon fire, and it is towed into the Daedalus' shuttlebay. When they land, damage caused by the phase cannon hit reveals Percival to be an android. Chavin reacts to this revelation by insulting her, calling her a Skinjob and a pile of circuits, although she quickly apologizes when the cadet has an emotional reaction to the insults (she punches clean through the deck, before breaking down and crying). They are then arrested by the ship's first officer.

Act Five

Dergos has taken up a position overlooking the enemy Anti-Aircraft battery, where he debates how to eliminate it. Sergeant Paul Jackson suggests using a Marine Anti-Armor Weapon to detonate a stack of plasma torpedoes. Just before the Marines take the shot, Dace detects a large formation of Romulan aircraft inbound, he urges Dergos to do something so that he can shoot them down before they can land troops. Dergos decides to capture the battery and use it on the enemy craft. With help from the MAAW, he is able to kill every guard at the battery and commandeer the torpedo launchers. Dace thanks them and offers to help him destroy the Romulan staging base, which he believes to be the origin of the wave of Romulan Aircraft. Meanwhile, the Daedalus' XO greet's Chavin and Percival in the brig, explaining that she has orders to escort them to Sickbay. Dergos decides to see Andrews off in his medevac hopper, where he learns that Andrews had detected a federation signature from the enemy base before being shot down.

Log Entries

• Captain's Personal Log; Supplemental, We've tracked Dranz to the sixth planet, and I am confident that we will find her. I can only hope that this whole ordeal hasn't soiled my relationship with Admiral Nechayev, that woman's grudges are known throughout the quadrant. Rumor has it that she's still pissed at Captain Picard twelve years after the Hugh incident. It is a good idea to stay on her good side. I should think that Dergos and his Marines have made it to Gamma Hydra by now…

• Combat Action Report, Major Renbe Dergos; Star Date 58353.2, We've been attached to the USS Wasp's MEB since we arrived, despite the Beliskner's arriving shortly after we landed, but I am sure glad to have the Beliskner's extra fighter support buzzing about overhead. They have saved my men from near death too many times to count in the past few weeks; I don't know what we'd do without them. Intel reports say that the Romulans are somehow managing to mass more and more shock troopers, despite the Federation blockade. My men and I have been tasked with finding their main assembly point so that Starfleet can bombard it from space.

Memorable Quotes

"Your hand is frakkin crawling on the floor and you act like its normal?"

— Commander Chavin to Cadet Percival about her severed limb.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Phase Pistol"

— Commander Chavin greeting her captor.

Background

This episode was originally planned as only consisting of the Daedalus side plot, during pre-writing it was decided to combine it with another plot revolving around Dergos and his marines, in order to increase the length and add more variety and action to the story's plot. During the actual writing process, the author realized that the original plot was going to be much longer than planned, and the marine plotline was superceeded with a lead into the next episode, and eventually a cliffhanger. In a direct reference to Star Trek: Daedalus Hunt mentions the modern Luna-class vessel operating in the Scorpius Reach when discussing the possible origin of the Recorder marker.