Battle of the Brown Dwarf

Name :	Battle of the Brown Dwarf
Universe :	Prime Timeline
Year :	2258

In 2258 the USS Enterprise was on a routine mission to upgrade the atmospheric filter on the Finibus III colony. On arrival they discovered that the oribal communications satellite had been destroyed. A landing party was dispatched to the planet and they discovered that the colony had also been attacked and that the colonists were missing. Soon after a ship was discovered in orbit. It turned out to be a cargo ship from the colony which contained the last of their survivors. Approximately 100 in total. [1]

As the survivors recounted the attack, La'An recognised a noise the attackers were said to have made. She warned the bridge to raise shields but it wasn't possible with the docking tube still attached to the cargo ship. The incoming ship destroyed the cargo ship and badly damaged the Enterprise. Unable to go to warp the Enterprise sought cover in a nearby brown dwarf, which would at least level the playing field, rendering the enemy's ship as sensorless and blind as themselves. [1]

A cat and mouse pursuit ensued within the dwarf. Spock eventually managed to produce a tracking system using the navigational sensors and the Enterprise was able to use this to follow the Gorn ship at close quarters. Arming their only ramaining photon torpedo, they used it as a mine to destroy the enemy ship. Just as they seemed to have gotten the upper hand, two more Gorn ships appeared together with a destroyer, all heading straight for the Enterprise. The Gorn had apparently sacrificed their ship in order to discover the location of the Enterprise. [1]

To avoid this new peril Captain Pike ordered the Enterprise further down into the brown dwarf's atmosphere. Virtually at crush depth and still followed by the Gorn the Enterprise hull started to buckle, collapsing several sections. Luckily the Gorn ship that followed fared worse and completely imploded. Fearing a similar fate the remaining Gorn ships stood off waiting for the Enterprise to break cover. [1]

After a while, unsure if the Gorn had left or were still waiting, Pike sent a shuttle manned by La'An and Spock to search the area. They discovered the two ships still waiting, witnessing them shining lights at each other. La'An realised that she had seen this before and that it was a form of communication used by the ships. She seemed to think that she knew more about it but traumatic experiences with the Gorn had caused it to be blocked from her memory. She asked Spock to perform a mind meld to attempt to recover more information. He eventually agreed and the meld revealed that her brother Manu had deciphered the code they were using. Spock was able to use this information to convince the destroyer into believing that the attack ship had been boarded by Humans and they had taken it over. The destroyer responded to this by wiping out their other ship. [1]

With only one ship remaining Captain Pike decided to make a run for it. Surfacing from the brown dwarf he made a run for the accretion disc of the black hole the brown dwarf was orbiting. They jettisoned the atmospheric filter and detonated its reactor, convincing the Gorn that they had been destroyed. With nothing left to hunt the Gorn retreated and the Enterprise was able to escape. [1]

Colour key

Canon source

Backstage source

Novel source

DITL speculation

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1	SNW	1	Memento Mori

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Last updated : 19 Feb 2023

Series :	SNW Season 1
Episode :	Memento Mori