[3] Audentes Fortuna Iuvat ➳ Star Trek: Beyond (2016) ✔️

|05| Booby Traps

Chapter 5!

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Kirk and Chekov fled down the halls, firing their weapons back at the approaching enemies as best they could as they went. They slid down a few walls along the way, getting to areas where the ship wasn't level, just trying to keep ahead of the enemies and out of range from their own blasts.

Kirk didn't even realize he'd led them to the engine room until they burst through the doors into it and fell to the side for some cover. He panted, looking over at Chekov a moment, asking, "You alright?" before his attention was pulled to the room itself.

A pit formed in his stomach as he looked around at the rest of the space. It was just...ruined, and there was so much destruction he didn't think he'd be able to find Victoria if she even was there, not from a glance, not without digging through the rubble. He didn't know what he'd been expecting though, given the state the ship was in from just the outside.

"Aye, Captain," Chekov spoke, "But we are trapped!"

Kirk shook his head, trying to focus, trying to keep his hopes alive that Victoria had escaped before the attack and, as terrible as it was to hope, that she had been captured with the rest of the crew. He didn't want any of the crew held hostage, but it would mean they were at least alive.

Now he just had to make sure he and Chekov stayed alive, too.

He moved to the door, leaning over to peek around the edge of it, only to jerk back when the enemy, at the end of the hall, fired at him. He looked around the room frantically for anything that could help, his mind racing with every detail or complaint Victoria had ever made bout the engine room, "Can you get this thing started?"

Chekov glanced at him, his eyes wide as he tried to work out Kirk's plan based on the lessons Scotty and Victoria had been giving him over the years as they worked to make members of the crew more familiar with other areas of the ship, "Are you intimating that we should engage the thrusters?"

"I am open to other suggestions!"

Chekov flinched when another enemy blast flew through the door, "Ok," he muttered, turning to scramble up, to one of the control panels nearby and tapping on it frantically, Kirk guarding his back and the door as he worked, "There is a problem."

"What?" Kirk called back to him, not about to take his eye off the doorway yet.

"The fuel is primed but I cannot get it to combust..." Chekov began, but Kirk suddenly spun and aimed his phaser down at the fuel cell, "Oy, Captain!" Chekov grabbed his arm, "We are basically standing on a very large bomb. If you miss the combustion compressor..."

"I'm not gonna miss," Kirk insisted, trying to fire again, not having time to waste arguing, but Chekov wouldn't let go, "Come on."

"Do you even know what the combustion compressor looks like?" Chekov gave him a look.

"It's square, right?" he asked, and fired down at the general area.

"No, sir..." Chekov tried to tell him, but was too late, "It's round."

Kirk would have smirked and laughed at how easily riled up Chekov was. Of course he knew the combustion compressor was round. His girlfriend was the top Engineer of the ship. He couldn't begin to count the number of nights they were both up late, talking in bed, her with papers and reports and updates about the various parts of the ship she examined every week. He said what he had just to get to Chekov.

"That's what I said," Kirk murmured, watching as the blast hit the compressor and sparked it. His eyes widened when a massive fireball began to flare up and head right for them, "Run!" he grabbed Chekov by the arm and dragged him away, out the door and turning down a hall, ducking under the blasts that shot at them, trying to get away from the inferno behind them.