"Good morning Keri." Captain Sybok says to his wife as she sits down in the commander's chair. "You're up rather early today." Sybok walks to the replicator and gets two coffees. He takes them back to his seat, hands one to Keri. "The bridge is so peaceful between shifts."

Lieutenant Sean Russ enters sickbay with a major gash on his forehead. He fell out of bed and busted it open on his nightstand. The chief medical officer, Ross Greene, approaches him, "So you busted yourself open again. You really should really move that nightstand to the other side of the room. Well you're all done. Oh, no thanks required. That's why I'm here. The best doctor for Starfleet's best ship."

A loud roar comes from the quarters of Lieutenant Xyber Gate's quarters. "Time to get up." Gate gets out of his eight-foot bed. He puts on his special Starfleet robe, pulls on his black leather gloves, and places his helmet on his head and fastens the straps tightly. Gate then exits his quarters, enters a turbolift, and says, "Computer, bridge level."

Lt. Commander Escobar awakes to find that he is late again. He throws on his uniform, peels out of his quarters, and tears down the corridor. He flies onto the bridge, with only a second to spare, "Escobar reporting for duty Captain."

"Ok so we can finally depart", Sybok says sternly while peering at Escobar. "Helm, set a course for Ramdon 4. They have been having some Romulan troubles." Lieutenant Sean Russ stumbles in. Sybok turns his head, "You're late."

The USS Intrepid makes haste for Ramdon 4 at warp 7. Unfortunately, they will never get there. It hasn't been twenty minutes into their journey went the Intrepid receives a distress call. Lieutenant Kris Parker speaks up, "Captain…I am getting a message. It seems to be a distress signal. There's a lot of static. Shall I play it?" Captain Sybok nods and Parker starts to play the message: …help us! My name…Williams of Rotman colony. We…attack! Can anyone help…!

"Set a new course for the source of that signal. Commander get an away team ready and have them all meet me in conference room 2." Sybok gets up and makes his way toward the conference room.

Soon after, a small group of officers enter the room. Sybok stands and begins to speak. "We have a situation on our hands. We are heading for an unknown planet because we received a distress signal, apparently from a new Federation colony. It might be dangerous down there, so I want everyone to be on their guard. Grab you equipment and we'll meet in transporter room 2 in ten minutes."

Back on the bridge, Lieutenant Kate Iasone can see the planet on the view-screen. It is a large M-class planet. Its atmosphere is similar to that one earth, but the sky's color is purple rather than blue. On its visible side it has a vast ocean, and what looks like mainly thick-forested areas on the land. Kate taps her commbadge, "Captain…we have reached our destination."

The Captain had just entered the transporter room. "Good. Kate, you have the bridge until we return. I want you to keep a lock on us at all times. We don't know what's down there." The other officers eventually join him in the transporter room, and the away team beams down to the surface.

The away team beams down right in the middle of what seems to be the city that sent the message. The buildings are scorched with blast marks. There are many badly burned bodies everywhere. Ensign Greene immediate moves from one body to the next searching for survivors. Lieutenant Russ and Gate begin to examine the scorch marks to see if they can determine any leads on who might have done this. Captain Sybok, Commander Chandra, and Lt. Commander Escobar begin to search the rest of the city for any other clues.

Greene approaches the captain, "Sir, they are human. But I couldn't find any survivors. In my entire career I have never seen burns like this before. I can't help them. That feels weird to say, because I have always been able to help everyone. I don't know what could have done this. I think we should just get off this planet before what ever it is comes back and finds us."

Russ looks to Gate, "Have you ever seen burn marks like this? The marks are too big to have been made by any hand held weapon that I know of. And they are to small to have been made by a ship." Gate replies in a roaring, deep voice, "You're right. We have never encountered anything like this before, whatever it is. Its very confusing, but rather interesting."

"Over here", Escobar shouts. The away team moves over to Escobar's position. "Look at these tracks. I am not sue if they were made by the attacker or possible survivors, but either way I think we should investigate."

As Escobar speaks, a large, dark being swoops in behind the away team. The form snatches up Keri and whisks her away into the forest. The away team charges into the forest in pursuit of that dark being.

"Computer…give me a mint tea, hot." The cup of tea materializes in the replicator. Iasone grabs her cup of tea and makes her way back to the captain's chair.

Ensign Mike Rock lets out a yelp, "I've lost them." This startles Kate and she spills her tea on the captain's chair. "Oh crap, Sybok is gonna kill…what do you mean you lost them?!" "Their signal has here a second ago, but it just disappeared" states Ensign Rock. In a stern voice Kate says, "How do you just lose 6 people. It's not possible." She taps on her communicator, "Come in away team. Captain, can you here me." But all she gets is static. "What is going on down there."

The away team finally stops running. They realize that they have lost the dark being, they have lost the tracks, and they have no idea how to get back out of the forest. Sybok looks at the away team. "We seem to be lost." He taps on his communicator. "Captain Sybok to Intrepid." He gets no response. "Intrepid, come in." Still no response. "Iasone, Parker, Rock, anybody." He tears the commbadge from his uniform and throws it to the ground. "Piece of crap. It looks like we'll have to find Keri on our own."

The away team begins to walk on. Ensign Greene is pulling up the rear. He feels a cold wind blow through, and hears a whisper "Why didn't you save us." A shiver runs down his spine, but he ignores it and continues to follow the away team. Another cold wind blows through and he hears the voice again, only this time louder. Again, he ignores it. He hears the voice again, much louder this time, and he feels a hand on his shoulder. "Sean quit playing around." But he then looks forward to find all four members of the away team still walking in front of him. He spins around quickly only to see a group of the burned dead bodies following him. He lets out a scream and runs right past the rest of the away team. He comes to a halt, seeing more of the burned bodies coming at him. He falls to the ground and screams, "They've surrounded us."

Sybok approaches Greene, but Greene sees Sybok as one of the burned bodies. He draws his phaser and says, "Back away or I will shoot." Greene opens fire. The away team dives behind a tree to avoid being shot. Greene keeps firing at the bodies, but all the phaser shots go straight through them. "Oh no, it doesn't work. Leave me alone", Greene shouts. Greene drops to the ground in fear, curls up in a ball, and starts ranting, "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. I'm not as good a doctor as I thought, or I could have saved you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." With Greene occupied, Russ approaches him and takes away the phaser. When Greene opens his eyes, he sees only the away team.

"Are you blooming loco?", asks Russ. "You pointed a phaser at the Captain. Do you want to be court marshaled or something?" Sybok speaks up, "I'll let it go this time. You seemed to be out of it. Lets forget it and keep moving."

The away team starts moving again. Russ catches up to Gate and starts speaking to him. "That was really strange back there. But I think there is something very strange about the forest anyway. I have a feeling that we're being watched." "Now that you mention it, I think you're right. I sense like something watching us. Something evil." Gate replies.

In the middle of the forest is a small castle. Within the throne room we find a large man, dressed in black clothes, watching the away team through a small view-screen. Right behind him stands a tall pole. Tied to the pole is one Commander Keri Chandra, with a crossbow aimed right at her chest. The dark warlord walks over to Keri. "It seems like your friends are coming for you. They'll never make it though. Their fears will destroy them first. Oh yeah, don't try to escape those ropes. They are connected to the crossbow trigger. Too much movement, and that arrow will grind right through you."

The dark warlord returns to his view-screen. "So, the big man Gate fears that one day his friends will find the truth about the monster he is underneath that uniform. Well, let's see how well that monster can deal with my monstrous pet. I will send Hellhound to kill them all."

The away team is still trekking through the forest when they hear the howl of a large animal. A 5-foot dog jumps out from behind some bushes. It has large fangs and claws, and has bloody drool falling from its mouth. The away team turns to run. However, Hellhound spits a large flame, which lands on the ground and encircles the away team. The flaming circle missed one man though. The giant behemoth, Xyber Gate stood before the beast, ready for battle. The beast growls at Gate, and the lieutenant growls back. They walk in a circle, each waiting for the other to strike. Hellhound rushes at Gate only to be grabbed up by the neck and slung into a tree. But Hellhound recovers quickly. It again charges Gate, and this time he locks his jaws onto Gates left arm. Gate, bleeding, tries to shake the beast loose, but it won't let go. Gate then reaches high into a tree, searching for a strong branch. He breaks off a branch, breaks it over his leg creating a stake, and he drives it through the back of the beast. The beast lets out a howl of pain and releases Gates arm. It falls to the ground. Gate then draws his phaser and incinerates the monster.

"Dang. I thought I had him," the dark warlord sneers. "He was stronger than I gave him credit for. I will not underestimate him again." Now lets see how well Mr. Escobar fares in his challenge."

The away team approaches what seems to be a castle. There are two men in front of it. "You guys cover me. I'll go see if they are friend or foe," suggests Escobar. Escobar approaches the two men. When they turn around, he finds that he knows them. "Harris!?…Chan!? What are you two doing here? You didn't have anything to do with the destruction of that city did you?"

Chan approaches Escobar. "We don't care about the village. We're here for you. We've come to take you back." In an alarmed voice Escobar says, "I'm not in Section 31 anymore. So leave me alone." Chan interrupts him, "But you are still in Section 31. You're alive aren't you? No one leaves Section 31 and lives. We own you. You can deny it all you like, but we own you." "Never!" Escobar quickly draws his phaser and fires at Chan. He misses, and the blast hits a tree near the away team. The tree falls, nearly crushing them. "Don't you see. We can always find a way to make you do what we want.," Harris proclaims.

"No!" Escobar tackles Harris, with one hand on his chest. They hit the ground with such impact, that Escobar's hand breaks Harris' sternum, causing his ribs to collapse. Chan quickly kicks Escobar in the face, but he absorbs the blow and jumps to his feet. He grabs Chan by the neck. "You will never make me hurt anyone again." He quickly snaps Chan's neck. Chan lies dead next to Harris. The suddenly burst to ash, and a gentle breeze blows them away.

"Oh man. Those guys are right outside my castle. Guards, be ready." Shouts the dark warlord. "But let's make it even." With a wave of his hand all the away team's phasers disappear.

The away team enters the castle. They enter the main hall of the castle and see a huge door, which leads to the throne room. As they approach the throne room door they are stopped by a large man, which exits a doorway on the left side of the hall. The man is about 6 feet 8 inches, and wears a pair of black pants and a black mask. "I am Tork. I am the champion of the dark warlord. Who dares to fight me."

Russ steps forward, "I will handle this guy. "The two lock up, and Tork flips Russ over his shoulder. Russ hits the ground hard, and Tork then delivers a quick punch to Russ' chest. Tork then begins to kick him. After kicking him about 7 times, Tork grabs his hair and pulls him to his feet. Tork goes for a punch to the head, but he misses. Russ the punches him in the gut. Tork doubles over and Russ drives an elbow into his back. Tork falls face first to the ground. Russ puts his foot on Tork's face and demands surrender. Tork doesn't surrender, so Russ lifts his foot, and slams in back down on his face rendering him unconscious.

The away team breaks down the door and rushes into the throne room. Each of them pair off with a guard and begin to fight. Sybok turns to see the dark warlord standing next to Keri. "Ah, the hero finally arrives." The dark warlord tosses Sybok a heavy, steel sword. "En' guard."

He begins to battle with the dark warlord. Every strike attempted by Sybok is met with a perfect counter move. "I can't believe I got my wife into so much danger. I've always feared this would happen."

Keri peers over her shoulder watching the battle. "I'm glad I'm not in this fight. They all think I'm so weak. I would only get in the way." Sybok begins to think, "He's matching me move for move. I can't beat him. But I have to save Keri. I've got it. I can save her." He pushes the warlord off, giving him just enough time to throw his sword.

The sword flies through the air, directly hitting the back of the pole, and slicing through the ropes which confined Keri. She drops quickly. The crossbow fires, and the arrow whizzes right past her shoulder and drill into the pole. The dark warlord cuts the back of Sybok's leg, and Sybok drops to one knee. Keri senses her love's pain and spins around. She finds that Sybok is down and needs her help, but she hears Sybok and the rest of the away team telling her to run away while she can. She jerks the sword from the pole. It hits the ground with a loud clank. That large, steel sword is just too heavy for her. She sees the warlord about to kill her love, so she heaves the sword up on her shoulder, and stumbles over behind the warlord. She tries to strike him, but the sword lands just beside his left foot.

The warlord swings around and points his sword at Keri chest. "Did you actually think you could kill me? You're too weak. You are only a small…weak…woman! Your friends know it, I know it, and you know it." "I am not weak!" screams Keri as she kicks him in the abdomen, which doubles him over. Keri then rolls backwards, flinging the sword upwards, and scoring the decisive blow, killing him.

There is a bright flash and all the guards disappear. There is a second flash of light and the away team suddenly appears back on the bridge of the Intrepid.

Kate yells, "Captain! What the heck happened down there?" "It's a long story." Says Sybok as he falls to one knee again. Ensign Greene helps the captain up, "Lets get you to sickbay." Russ walks over and swings under Sybok's other arm. They are about to enter the turbolift when Rock stops them.

Rock points to the view-screen, "Captain…the planet." Everyone turns to look at the view-screen. The planet vanishes into the vast silence of space. Suddenly they hear a loud chuckle and a voice. "You have one tough lady there MonCapitan. A tough lady indeed."