The landing party soon comes to the freight turbolift. The turbolift door having already been wrenched open, an apparatus of Klingon design has been erected around it.
Holding his hand up for the others to stay where they are, Mitchell cautiously approaches the piece of Klingon technology. Activating the analytical components in his left gauntlet, he scans the device.
MITCHELL: (looks over the holographic readouts) Just your basic force field barrier. It’s safe for us to pass through.
Turning the holographic readout off, Mitchell takes a step through the barrier. Blue-green energy crackles around him as he pass through the force field, but he remains unharmed. The others follow after.
INT. STARBASE 104/TURBOLIFT
Once inside the large turbolift, the landing party members turn on their helmet lamps and look up. As the beams of light play over the top of the cab, they can see that an impromptu opening has been created with disruptorfire, allowing entrance into the turbolift shaft.
PIPER: (takes readings of surrounding environment) There’s atmosphere present here, Major – standard oxygen-nitrogen mix. (beat) I’m not registering any biological, chemical, radiological, or nanotechnical hazards in the air, so it should be safe to breathe, if a little stale.
MITCHELL: Alright, men, you heard the doc; you can retract your faceplates.
With a press of a button, the faceplates of their helmets are retracted.
Pressing a button in his gauntlet, Mitchell activates a red holographic map of the starbase; the path to the armory is illuminated in yellow.
MITCHELL: The armory’s on Level 10. That’s a fair distance from here, and with the power out, we’ll have to make the trek on foot. (beat) Set your phasers to full power. We don’t know what’s waiting for us up there.
With their rifles set to full power, the members of the landing party walk straight up the wall of the turbolift cab, step through the ragged hole one-by-one, and enter the turbolift shaft.
INT. STARBASE 104/TURBOLIFT SHAFT
The landing party makes its way along the turbolift shaft. Dark and dusty, the lamps of their helmets providing the only illumination, the shaft is like a foreboding tunnel leading straight into nothingness.
INFANTRYMAN #1: (edgy) It’s creepy in here!
MITCHELL: (checks his map) Only fifteen more metres to go.
As they continue on their way, yellow warning lights begin to blink on all their left gauntlets.
RUAN: I’m getting readings, Major! (beat) There’s something in here with us!
Suddenly, in the darkness ahead of them, four small green lights flash into existence, forming a lozenge pattern in the blackness.
MITCHELL: (whispering) Bring your rifles to bear … slowly.
The lights begin to advance on them.
MITCHELL: (cont’d) Steady ….
As the armoured Starfleet personnel stand there, stock-still with their phaser rifles at the ready, the green lights move into the beams of their helmets. As the yellow-white light washes over them, the lights are revealed to be the sensors of a KLINGON HUNTER-KILLER. A large, semi-humanoid robot, the hunter-killer is eight-feet tall, its head, shoulders, arms, and chest bristling with in-built disruptors.
INFANTRYMAN #2: (afraid) Hunter-killer!
Overcome by his fear, the infantryman springs forward, pushing Mitchell out of the way as he swings his phaser into firing position.
MITCHELL: (alarmed) You idiot --!
The infantryman fires. The blue phaser beam strikes the hunter-killer dead centre, but the energy dissipates against the automaton’s powerful deflector shield. The hunter-killer fires back with its pair of head disruptors; the twin disruptor beams slam into the infantryman’s armoured chest, and with a bloodcurdling SHRIEK he is disintegrated in disturbing fashion, leaving his now-empty suit of armour to collapse into a smouldering heap.
MITCHELL: Spread out!
The remaining members of the landing party spread out. Training their rifles on the hunter-killer, they open fire; leaving their fingers pressed down on their triggers, they keep phaser energy trained upon the behemoth, hoping to overwhelm its deflector shield. Its shield glowing brightly as the blue phaser energy washes over it, the hunter-killer fires back. Four more infantrymen are struck down, their armour joining their foolhardy companion’s on the floor.
Opening her pack, an infantryman fishes out the components of a grenade launcher and begins assembling the weapon. Just as she loads a photon grenade into the launcher, she’s shot down by the Klingon machine.
Spotting the grenade launcher lying prone upon the dusty floor, Mitchell makes a dash for the weapon. Somersaulting across the floor, he snatches the launcher up, finds the hunter-killer in his sights, and presses the trigger. With a burst of red light, the photon grenade rockets forth, striking the hunter-killer with deadly accuracy. With a white-hot explosion, electricity cascades over the body of the hunter-killer. Tossing the launcher aside, Mitchell takes his rifle and fires upon the robot; the beam slams into the robot’s left shoulder disruptor without hinderance, blasting it apart.
With the surviving landing party members firing upon the now-unshielded robot, the hunter-killer begins to falter against the onslaught of phaser beams. Encased in heavy armour plating, however, the machine still has fight left in it. Advancing on its treads, it swivels around until it’s got Mitchell in clear line of sight of its left arm disruptor. Mitchell, quick on his feet, leaps out of the way just in time to avoid the full force of the subsequent disruptor blast, but the green beam grazes his side; the armour there superheating, damage is inflicted to the underlying flesh.
Before the hunter-killer can finish the job it started on the major, Ruan leaps in between them. Instead of firing upon the bronze-skinned woman, the hunter-killer inexplicably freezes up. The lieutenant doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation; jamming the barrel of her phaser rifle right into its chest, she pulls the trigger, unleashing high-powered phaser energy directly into the robot’s heart. With a BOOM, Ruan is tossed back as the hunter-killer is reduced to hundreds of pieces of white-hot shrapnel.
Grimacing, Mitchell holds his side where the disruptor beam struck him. Approaching the major, Piper begins scanning his injury.
PIPER: (frowns) This isn’t good ….
MITCHELL: Give it to me straight, Doc.
PIPER: The armour protected you from the brunt of the hit, but you still suffered severe subdermal hemorrhaging. (beat) Major, if you don’t report to sickbay as soon as possible, you’re going to bleed to death internally.
MITCHELL: (shakes his head) Isn’t there something you have on hand that can help?
PIPER: A shot of triclenidil would slow the bleeding, but –
MITCHELL: Give it to me, Doc.
Unsealing one of his gauntlets, Mitchell pulls it off, allowing Piper access to his naked wrist. Frowning, the doctor opens his medical kit, fixes a vial of triclenidil to his hypospray, then injects the drug into Mitchell’s bloodstream.
PIPER: You’re dancing on the razor’s edge, Major.
MITCHELL: (reseals his gauntlet) The razor’s edge? My favourite place to be.
Leaving Mitchell, Piper turns his attentions to Ruan, who has already regained her wits. Without asking, he begins scanning her for injuries.
RUAN: I’m fine, Doctor. (holds up her blackened, half-melted rifle) My rifle’ll never be the same ….
Once Piper has made the rounds, Mitchell hefts up his rifle, motioning for his subordinates’ attention.
MITCHELL: Recess is over, boys and girls – hup to.
As the infantrymen resume their stride, Mitchell stops Ruan and waves her over.
RUAN: Yes, Major?
MITCHELL: If it hadn’t been for you, Lieutenant, my goose would have literally been cooked. Thank you.
RUAN: It doesn’t seem to have done you that much good, Major.
MITCHELL: Still, it’s better to be dying than dead, right? (grimaces) God, disruptor blasts really smart, don’t they?
RUAN: You should follow Dr. Piper’s advice, Major. Return to the Enterprise – I can handle the mission from here.
MITCHELL: It’s too late for that, Lieutenant. I wouldn’t even make it to the shuttlebay. Piper knows it, I know it. (beat) You familiar with the ancient Terran song “Rock of Ages”?
RUAN: I can’t say that I am.
MITCHELL: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
Turning on his heel, Mitchell leaves Ruan to make his way back to the front of the group.