Ad Astra 4: Sacrifice of the Angels

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This is the eleventh story in author Tiberius64's

(Klingon64 on FanFiction.net) story series and the fourth of the Ad Astra spinoff series. Its main events occur a year after Ad Astra 3: In The City Of Love (which occurred in 2039). This story also features the "new enemy" species mentioned in Ad Astra 3 as the main group of antagonists. This is also the first story by this author to experiment with the themes of main character death death in honor and selfless sacrifice. Below is the link to the FanFiction.net version.

Ad Astra 4: Sacrifice of the Angels

If you like this story and wish to review it, please visit the FanFiction.net version, which has anonymous reviews enabled for the sake of those without FanFiction.net accounts. Tiberius64

Full-Text Story (End Author's Note Included)

Chapter 1: Political Overview

The year: 2040. The alliance between the Terrans, Species 1, the Thoroni, Soruna, V'malnons, T'larans, and I'lin has now become the Planetary Federation. However, since life in the galaxy is diverse, there are of course going to be those hostile species that love nothing more than war and conquest. In this case, it was the Karons. They were warlike, had an extensive empire, were very secretive and xenophobic, and made no alliance permanently with anyone. In September of 2038, a disastrous first contact was made with them during an exploration mission made by the USS Hammurabi PF-207 (an Independence-Class starship) past the far reaches of known space. Their Captain, Taylor Archer, was captured and taken aboard a

nearby Karon Battle Cruiser on patrol "for questioning". When her First Officer asked the duration of time, the response given was "indefinitely". After a group of TerraFleet runabouts on assignment with the Hammurabi rescued the Captain via transporter, four small Karon attack ships de-cloaked and attacked, severely incapacitating the Hammurabi before one suicide-rammed it to finish it off, killing all 70 remaining crew members (minus the Captain and 8 crew members in the runabouts). The runabouts and rescued captain were left alone before being rescued by the Phineas-A, which arrived within two hours of the incident, as it had been in the same sector exploring.

This event led to an ashamed admittance from all allies that there was no knowledge as to what this species was, except that few who had encountered them returned at all. All that was known was this species was imperialistic and known as the Karons. Phineas thereby commissioned the scrapping of half of the current ships in favor of building new ones that could hold more than 500 crew members. This process, by 2040, had brought about 50 new Regal-Class starships into the beginnings of construction. The Phineas-A was by now outdated and close to retirement, especially after its valor in the First and Second Battles of H'pal (a moon nearby the main Karon energy production facility) in 2039, which led to a 3-month repair due to severe damage. All crew members of the Phineas bore at least some scar, emotional or physical, from the warfare that had ensued. In 2040, a neutral zone was established with the Karon Empire, which they themselves seldom respected, as ships and posts had to be placed along the border by TerraFleet and other Federation species to prevent them from illegally crossing.

By now, the homes on earth of the Phineas crew seemed more like rest stops for shore leave, as the crew members were constantly on-assignment and off-planet. Phineas had grown to be disappointed, as this TerraFleet organization had become one of military force instead of peaceful exploration. The children of these

brave ships' crews were being left without parents, brothers without sisters, friends and cousins without each other, and Phineas almost felt responsible. It came to the point that the Phineas crew, as well as several other crews, began to have their families live on their starships from anywhere between several days to months at a time whenever they were not in combat. But now, almost as if this grief was not enough, a Karon superweapon was launched at earth (cloaked and at warp until Mars' vicinity), which targeted Florida, killing millions with an antiproton beam that cut a massively long

trench from Florida to Venezuela. This was the act of war that led many at TerraFleet to become bitter, resentful, and cold, as this kind of attack left no one the same afterwards. And now, they were leading a fleet towards Terran colonies in the farther reaches of Federation space in hopes of inciting surrender from the Federation and Earth. The year is now 2040. The date: October 17th. The battlegrounds: the outlying V'malnon-Terran colony planet Losurae. The main ship assigned to the case: the Phineas, along with 399 other Terran ships.

Chapter 2: Farewells

Date, October 17th, 2040. Danville. Chris and Erica were used to their parents leaving, but could not bear if they left them at home again. Still, both Phineas and Isabella were needed in this decisive battle. "Dad! You can't leave us like this! I know how many are killed in these battles! We're talking a 40% casualty rate that you could be a part of as much as any oth…" Chris was interrupted by his dad hugging him in a tight embrace. "I love you, son. I know you're only a freshman in high school with your whole life ahead of you—I want you to keep that life ahead of you to live. Remember how we have a different way of thinking. This will not be the last time you see us. Pray for comfort and strength. Your Aunt Candace and Uncle Jeremy can…" Phineas began to break up in his voice, which now gave traces of emotional suffering. He continued, "…take care of you…and continue …to raise you in good principle…I love you, Chris." The two hugged intensely for what seemed like eternity.

Isabella had a similar conversation with Erica, who reacted with a surprising degree of toughness and pride. She would be proud to have her parents be martyrs for a good cause. "And even if we don't come back…Erica…" Isabella said, sniffling, "…we will see you again…that's a promise. I love you, sweetheart, and don't you ever forget it." "I love you, mom." Isabella walked out of the house with Erica towards Phineas and Chris. Isabella slowly nodded her head before saying "it's time, honey." Phineas slowly nodded back and then looked at his children, saying "we love you both." At that instant, Candace and Jeremy drove up (A/N: cars at this time hover a little above the streets), both sporting looks of sadness and apprehension. "Phineas…I…I know it's kind late for this, but…I'm sorry for how I used to treat you and Ferb…now you and Izzy are gonna do something awesome for earth, like you've been doing for years…I should've been a better sister to you…" said Candace with tears in her eyes. "Phineas, you've been a great brother-in-law, and so good to my wife here…we'll take good care of your kids if…you know…" said Jeremy with teary eyes. "Thanks, bro…in-law, that is" said Phineas with a smile concealing sadness.

"Are we ready, Izzy?" She reached for his hand and said "I am. Are you?" Phineas felt a knife of fear through his heart at this question, but he answered a simple "Yes. Yes, I am." The children ran up and hugged their parents in case they would never see them again. After some last-minute kisses, hugs, and handshakes, Phineas tapped his commbadge. "Flynn to Phineas, two to beam up, Mrs. Rai. Hold that for bit, engine room." Phineas looked at his sister, brother-in-law, and children and said "God bless. No matter what happens, this will not be our final meeting." He then held his hand up, saying "live long…and prosper…Flynn here, energize." In a quick set of light beams, the two were transported away.

Chapter 3: Apprehension

"Captain on the bridge" yelled recently-promoted Captain Ferb Fletcher. All bridge crew members stood up erect and with the most solemn looks ever seen on any of their faces. "Isabella," said Phineas casually, "put me on to the fleet." "You're on, sir." "This is Captain Phineas Flynn of the starship Phineas. All starships check in." "Constantine in!" "Fletcher in!" "Roddenberry in!" "Tiberius in!" "Majestic in!" "Bangkok in!" "Rio Grande in!" "Odyssey in!" "Galaxy in!" "Independence in!" "Ingenuity in!" "Entrepreneur in!" "Liberty in!" "Excelsior in!" "Enterprise in!" "Hood in!" "Agamemnon in!" "Crazy Horse in!" "Defiant in!" "Intrepid in!" The captains all yelled out their ship names in that chaotic mess somewhere, and the list was filled with all ships present. TerraFleet had 400 starships to boast, although their crew complements only ranged from 20 to 80. "Captain Flynn to the fleet: we are going to meet with all allied ships at the V'malnon homeworld. Then we fly into the jaws of death to meet the Karon fleet. May God bless this fleet and the families of all those to be lost. All ships: maximum warp to V'mala, engage!" Ships in clusters warped off to V'mala.

Once all ships were at Warp 9.99 (7,912c or 7,912x the speed of light), Phineas put himself on to the crews of all ships, saying "well, uh…I had never been too much of a man of faith until 10 years ago, and even now, I have never been too evangelistic. The events of the past year and a half have all proven that life is short and unpredictable. Their superweapon killed 7 million of our people on earth, and if that doesn't speak for itself, I don't know what does. I used to be strictly secular science; now I say that there is a Divine Being who allows all to unfold according to a master plan. To my Terran comrades, do you remember how other species we've met were shocked that we were stupid to not acknowledge His existence? You may do what you will to prepare yourselves, but I am merely reminding you that there are a number of things at stake in this war, both physical and eternal. I'm sure you all remember the First and Second Battles of H'pal…No matter what the outcome may be…may your legacies live on forever…"

Phineas and a few other crewmen retired to the mess hall, all equally nervous and barely reassured by their honor-to-come. Phineas sat with Isabella, both looking at their 2038 picture with Chris and Erica. "They're in good care, Izzy." "I know, Phineas. I know." They were both drinking cups of hazelnut coffee with small plates of tiramisu on the side. In Ferb's quarters, Ferb and Vanessa were looking at a picture of themselves and their daughter Victoria. As they were alone, they let their emotions flow freely as they comforted each other. Buford stood on the bridge in confidence yet some worry. Irving nervously eyed his Operations Consoles while occasionally looking over at his wife Katie at the Tactical Console. Baljeet, Ginger, and all the engineers had retired to their quarters, as all of the medical crew had as well. Crew came and went from time to time, as it would be a day before they would arrive at the V'malnon homeworld. Along the way, Thoronon and Sorunon fleets began to follow the Terran fleet. Within 12 hours, T'laran, I'lin, and Species 1 (Meap's kind) starships were joining the mix. On October 18th, 2040, all fleets met with a combined strength. They all stopped and rested for a few hours at V'malnon stations before laying a heading for Losurae. "The hour cometh…" said Phineas softly from the bridge when they warped off again.

Chapter 4: The Fight and Flight of Eagles

Within thirty minutes of leaving the V'malnon homeworld, the enemy was within the visual range of scanners. The numbers were surprisingly in favor of the Federation allies, but how much this would be compensated by the superior military strategy of the Karons was uncertain. Phineas began to say "Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them…" Ferb continued "Volley'd and thunder'd; storm'd at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well…" Buford (surprisingly) continued "Into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell rode the six hundred." Vanessa, who sat at the helm nervously, said in agitation and informality "whatever you guys are quoting, I wish you'd please stop." "At ease, Commander. It's just poetry" said Phineas. "Poetry that makes me even more nervous…" said Vanessa under her breath. "There's an old saying…'fortune favors the bold'…well…I'd prefer to say that whatever the outcome is, it is all according to a plan…may it be in our favor…Isabella, put me on to the fleet." "You're on, sir." "This is Captain Phineas Flynn. All ships, prepare to drop out of warp at the designated coordinates." They dropped out and saw Karon Warbirds, Raptors, Birds-of-Prey, and Battle Cruisers approaching slowly from where they had dropped out of warp. "Hail them" said Phineas. "No response, sir" said Isabella. "They're charging weapons" said Katie.

"Interceptors, see if you can't do some heavy damage on their smaller vessels first. If there's one strategy I've learned, it's to target smaller and weaker ships first. Do what you can and then get out of there. We won't give them our full force just yet." The Flynn-Class scouts, Ingenuity-Class escorts, and other allied attack ships went in first, hitting small ship after small ship. As half of them were lost after a 3-minute attack, the rest retreated, a few being destroyed before being able to return to the fleet. "Liberty-wings and heavy cruisers, let's take the sides and flanks of this fleet while the others attempt to punch a hole in the enemy lines. If we divide, we conquer." The battle raged on, both sides seeming to prove each other equal matches. As shields of Federation ships had been drastically improved over the past year, this battle was lasting longer than previous ones had a year prior. Still, some Karon ships were even suicide-ramming Federation ships when they became disabled, which no shield could prevent damage from.

Inside the bridge of the cloaked IKS K'lathak (the fleet general's prototype dreadnought, IKS being "Imperial Karon Ship"), Karon General Ch'nok waited without worry, as his ship was massive in size, dwarfing all other ships in the scene while remaining undetectable by all as it lay far off from the battle. "Sir, what are your orders?" asked the tactical officer from his console. General Ch'nok turned in his chair, sporting one eye, his other covered with an eyepatch, from which jagged scars protruded on the edges. "We retreat…just this ship. We'll let the others fare however they may. I want the Phineas. Send the fabricated distress call to the Terran fleet." With that, the IKS K'lathak retreated from the battle undetected and on a course towards earth, to which the quickest path lay through a nebula the allied fleet had already gone through on their way here. Isabella straightened up even more than she already was, frantically saying "Captain, there's a distress call coming in…a Karon ship is headed towards earth…no more than that." "It's probably from this fleet. Hail the Constantine." "It's been destroyed, sir." Phineas looked down for a moment in sorrow that Philip Nuñez, a Captain recently promoted to Rear Admiral, had perished. "Hail the USS Liberty." "Aye, sir. They're fine and responding."

"Tell them to follow us out of the battle and then hail the fleet and tell them that their orders are to fight until the last ship unless any Karon vessels decide to retreat. Tell them that we and the Liberty are leaving the battle to go stop this ship from reaching earth." "The fleet has responded, sir. Which ship is in charge for the time?" Phineas thought for a moment before saying "make it the USS Hood. Captain Josef Khil is always good for a fight." "The Hood has responded, sir. They have now taken charge of the fleet." "Good. Helm, plot a course back to earth. We'll intercept whatever is out there whenever we can." "Aye, sir, course laid in." The Phineas and Liberty shot off from the battle scene towards earth, having to go through the same nebula they had gone through earlier. Any repairs necessary would have to be made en route for both ships. From inside the nebula, the IKS K'lathak was waiting to engage the two craft, General Ch'nok more than eager to see their valor.

Chapter 5: The Snare

After several hours of heading towards earth, the nebula was in visual range to the naked eye. It slowly crept up despite the ships' faster-than-light velocities (their damage had limited their warp yield to Warp Factor 9.9 or 3,053c). From the bridge of the IKS K'lathak (which was cloaked and just outside the nebula), General Ch'nok waited, having his tactical officer wait for the moment when both ships would be in firing range. This would have to be a very precise shot, but the Karons had been trained to be that good of shots (with the aid of computers). "They are in firing range, sir." "Wait until they have entered the nebula. That way, their long-range communications are inoperative. I want you to cripple the other ship. The Phineas is what we're after. I want that other ship to bear witness and report back to earth with the news." "Understood, sir." The Phineas and Liberty entered, continuing at Warp 9.9, immediately taking fire from the Karon ship. The warp drive was knocked out, as neither vessel was shielded during warp. "Captain, I can't tell where this is all coming from!" yelled Katie at the Tactical console. "Our warp drive's been knocked out, sir!" yelled Irving from the Secondary Science/Operations console. Fortunately, however, TerraFleet ships had shields that worked in nebulae; unfortunately, so did the Karons. Both Terran ships raised shields now that they were vulnerable.

"Liberty to Phineas, we're taking hits here! We just lost our warp drive! Slowing to sub-light speed!" said Captain John Decker. "Captain Flynn here. Are there any ships in visual range of scanners?" "No. Wait. There's a Karon ship de-cloaking to our flanks, Phineas. Plan of action?" "Attack pattern Fletcher Delta!" Both the Phineas and Liberty banked at a high speed and turned to face the massive Karon ship. Soon, an I'lin ship appeared alongside a T'laran ship. Both hailed the Phineas and Liberty mid-battle. "Captain Y'Shiek of the UIS P'lax checking in." "Captain Wol of the UTS Gerod checking in." "It's good to see you two gentlemen here. I keep overestimating the sizes of our own ships. Your orders are to engage the enemy by whatever means necessary. We shall use each other's ships for refuge in the case of incapacitation." "Well said, sir. You can count on us!" said I'lin Captain Y'Shiek. "We've got your back" said T'laran Captain Wol. The ships all flew adjacent to each other at one point to fire on the K'lathak, but its shields held. It first targeted the T'laran vessel, incapacitating it after a few minutes of combat with useless weapons targeting systems. Eventually, the I'lin ship was incapacitated as well, leaving only the Phineas and Liberty; the K'lathak still had 50% of its shields while the Terran ships were at about 40% and only had half impulse power by now.

"Let's keep going, Liberty! Bridge to engineering, boost our impulse power yield!" "Aye, sir!" yelled Baljeet frantically from the crazed engineering sector. The Karon ship targeted the two Terran ships, eventually blowing the Liberty's port warp nacelle off entirely. "They're hailing us, sir" said Isabella fearfully. After a pause, Phineas said "onscreen." "This is General Ch'nok of the IKS K'lathak. I presume you are the infamous Captain Phineas Flynn, yes? I remember your ship from the Battle of H'pal and the horrible defeat we suffered. In short, I wish to avenge myself and my race on you. I intend to take your worthless lives in front of all your other friends so that they may truly know that the Karon Empire will not be told what to do. May your doom be swift!" With that, the transmission was cut and the Phineas and K'lathak began firing at each other, both putting the experience of their tactical officers to the greatest test of having to fire on the other fast-moving vessel with no usage of computer targeting systems, which had been rendered useless by the nebula. Suddenly, another unidentifiable ship came into short-range sensor range.

Chapter 6: Severe Blows

"What is it, Commander?" Phineas asked Katie. "I…I can't tell…it looks very…small…it bears no designations at all…" Soon, a small vessel zipped by with a shape almost like a wedge. It began hitting the K'lathak, dealing it hit after hit from places where there was no armament. "Our lower shields are failing, sir!" yelled the tactical officer to Ch'nok. "What? That can't be!" "See for yourself, sir!" The General shoved the officer out of the way, looking at the console displays. "No! Send out the tactical probe!" In a few seconds, an unmanned spherical probe came out of the bottom of the ship, attempting to intercept the mysterious ally to the Terrans. "The small vessel is hailing us, sir" said Isabella. "Onscreen." "This is Christopher Flynn of the Platypus Flyer." "Chris! What are you doing out here?" yelled Phineas. "Long story short, we just had to help!" "How many more are there aboard?" "Basically the entire usual group…" "Bridge to engineering, maintain a transporter lock on the crew of the Platypus Flyer! Chris, I've got you all on a transporter lock so we can beam you aboard!" "You think your ship's in any better state? I wanna help, dad. Trust me. Trust us." Phineas thought for a moment before saying "very well…be careful! I don't want our problem to be the death of you, your sister, and our friends' children!" "This is everyone's problem, dad…but we'll be careful."

"Tactical: keep on firing. Helm, keep us out of harm's way as much as you can. The rest of you, pray, hold onto your hats and brace yourselves for more bumps on the ride" said Phineas informally to his crew. "Try to take some pressure off the Platypus Flyer by firing at that sphere. Helm: try and steer us over there. It's the lives of our children over our own here." "Aye, sir" Katie and Vanessa said. With useless targeting scanners, it was all manual and difficult for Katie. Although the Phineas eventually disabled the probe, the Karon ship kept firing on the Phineas, eventually crippling the ship to one half impulse power. "We have exhausted our complement of standard and photon torpedoes and are unable to fire our remaining quantum torpedoes, sir" said Katie. "We only have 30% of our phaser power remaining, sir." "Overall shields at 10%, sir!" said Irving. Then, the K'lathak fired its last torpedo directly at the bridge, blowing the viewscreen away and nearly having the bridge crew sucked out into space before the emergency shields went up and the bridge re-pressurized. Just then, the K'lathak crept up

eye-to-eye with the Phineas. "Their armaments are no longer functional, sir" said Katie. "He's trying to look me in the eye…bridge to sickbay, bring up Gretchen. So…a stalemate is it?" said Phineas after briefly thinking up an idea.

Soon, Gretchen, the ship counselor, was on the bridge. "I need you to use your empathic powers to distract the tactical officers of that ship." Gretchen had been given some empathic powers by S'lar sometime back, which had further enhanced her abilities as the ship counselor and were now an advantage. From her mind, she concentrated, peering into the minds of the Karon ship, and found the gunner and helmsman's minds. She distracted them while Phineas ordered Vanessa at the helm to ram at full speed (which was only half impulse) and warned all decks to brace for impact. "What is she doing…? Evasive maneuvers! Helm!" yelled General Ch'nok before the Phineas rammed right into it, smashing or violently shaking all things on all decks. Things fell from the bridge ceiling, killing almost all the bridge crew except for the General, who was still seriously wounded and burned from destroyed computers and heavy debris. He then dragged himself bloody-faced over to the helm console and pulled the ship away, scraping the Phineas' saucer even more severely. He then dragged himself back to his own chair and set a self-destruct sequence for five minutes. As he collapsed to the floor and lay dying, he softly said to himself "this game… …is not o…over… …I may die…but at least I'll take you with… …me…" From engineering aboard the Phineas, Baljeet contacted the bridge, saying "Captain…I had to take the mains offline…it's the rad…iation…" before he collapsed on the ground, exhausted and accompanied by Holly from sickbay. "Baljeet! Great…" said Phineas before being interrupted by Irving, who said "Captain! They just set their auto-destruct sequence! We only have five minutes! You know how they like to do it…"

Chapter 7: A No-Win Scenario?

Ferb quickly and discretely got up from his Primary Science console and went to the turbolift in the back of the bridge next to him. He hurried down to engineering while Phineas, very oblivious at this moment to his step-brother's absence, said "helm, get us out of here at maximum velocity! Isabella, contact the Platypus Flyer!" "You're on, sir!" "Phineas to Platypus Flyer, get to a safe distance! The Karon vessel has just set an auto-destruct sequence and it'll take you with it if you don't leave right now! Chris, Erica…don't worry about us. Your lives matter more than ours do now. We love you and will try to get out of here ourselves!" "Dad! Beam over here!" "No, son…I'm not gonna let this crew die just for a few others. Just obey…please…" "We love you!" yelled Chris and Erica, their voices choked by tears of mortal fear. "We love you, too." Meanwhile, Ferb rushed to the main reactor chamber in engineering before being stopped by Holly. "Are you out of your mind? No human can tolerate the radiation in there!" Ferb simply grabbed her shoulder and pinched it at the base of her neck, saying "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" as she passed out. He then grabbed the gloves off of Baljeet's hands and entered the chamber, whose transparent door spun around mechanically to allow access.

Baljeet recovered, getting up instantly and pounding on the clear metal chamber walls, yelling "Ferb! Get out of there!" Holly recovered and also got up, in horror pounding on the wall and saying "damn it, Ferb, get out of there! No, Ferb, NO!" He pulled the lid off the main reactor's tube, sending up a pillar of bright white radiation; he laid down the lid and then dug his hands into the tube, trying to peer in and fix the reactor with an unprotected face. He would jerk his head back in pain from time to time as he squinted and kept on working feverishly while Holly, along with Baljeet and Ginger gathered around and looked with horror. On the bridge, Phineas asked "time index?" "Three minutes and forty-two seconds…" said Irving. "Distance?" "Five hundred kilometers" said Katie in fear. "We're not going to make it, are we?" Vanessa asked. "Just keep us moving away, helm" said Phineas in fear. Soon, hundreds of other USS Liberty, T'laran, and I'lin survivors beamed over from their disabled ships, unable to go anywhere but the Phineas, the only ship capable of even moving. After four minutes and forty-five seconds elapsed, Ferb placed the lid back on the main reactor in the chamber. "The mains are back online, sir!" said Irving on the bridge. "Bless you, Baljeet…Warp 1, engage!" yelled Phineas. The ship zoomed away with five seconds to spare as the IKS K'lathak exploded, destroying the T'laran and I'lin ships, as well as the USS Liberty.

From the Platypus Flyer, the children all saw the Phineas come out of warp and rejoin with them near the edge of the nebula. "Captain, we're being hailed" said Isabella joyfully. "Open a channel. We did it, kids! We did it! Let's get out of this nebula and contact the fleet!" "They hailed us just now, dad! They destroyed the entire Karon fleet!" "Perfect. Are they on their way?" "Yes. One ship from each of our allies is on its way here now!" "Perfect. Then I'll…" Phineas was interrupted by Baljeet's voice from engineering. "Phineas…you'd better get down here…" "Baljeet?" asked Phineas. Holly added "…better…make it quick…" As Phineas turned around towards the turbolift in the back, he noticed to his utter horror that Ferb's seat was empty. He suddenly swallowed hard and rushed to the back, informally yelling "Vanessa, take the conn!" The turbolift raced to engineering, where Phineas got off and headed towards the main reactor near the warp core area, a million thoughts racing through his head as he tried to fight off the tears that came to his eyes from his fears of the ultimate worst…

Chapter 8: The Needs of the Many...

Phineas entered the warp core area and saw in horror that Ferb was crouching on the floor of the reactor chamber against the wall. As he attempted to open it, he was stopped by Baljeet and Holly. "No! You'll flood the whole compartment!" yelled Holly as she held Phineas back. "But he'll die!" "Sir, he's dead already" said Baljeet plainly and gloomily. "It's too late, Phineas" said Holly as Phineas stopped resisting. He sadly approached the chamber's clear walls and yelled "Ferb!" Ferb slowly got up from his crouching position against the far wall, fixing his uniform, and then walked slowly and with a hobble over to the opposite wall, hitting his nose against it. "Ship…out of danger…?" "Yes" said Phineas plainly yet sorrowfully. "Don't grieve, Phineas… …it was logical… …the needs of the many…outweigh…" Phineas completed Ferb's statement with "…the needs of the few." Ferb nodded and said "…or the one…" He then coughed and took off the engineering gloves, putting his hand on the wall and saying "…I love you…Phineas… …may we meet…again…up there… …live long…and prosper… …" Ferb then slowly began sliding down the wall, ending up in a lifeless crouch against it with closed eyes and burned and chalky skin. "No…" was all Phineas could say quietly and helplessly.

== 1 hour later… ==

Ferb's body was finally able to be safely transported by the engineers to sickbay, where many lay dead or injured from mild to severe levels. All those who could move looked as the First Officer's body was placed on a bed and examination equipment was pulled out and down from above and from drawers. Holly was joined by Milly, the top nurse, and both examined the body for any sign of life. Some faint traces came here and there, but there was very little brain and body system activity. "At best, Ferb could be revived and kept in a vegetative state for the rest of a shortened life" said Milly. "Well, now…how do you know that…?" said a certain disembodied voice that Phineas recognized instantly. "What do you want…? My brother's as good as gone, and you don't even seem have respect for that…" "Well, now…how do you know that…? How do you know I didn't come here to help…?" Phineas sniffled a few times before softly asking "what can you do to help…? I would trade almost anything for the life of my brother…" "I know you would…I would…well, what would you say if I told you that there is a way to revive him…? …that there are ways to reverse the damage of the radiation burns and poisoning and fully rehabilitate him…?" Phineas slowly straightened up, saying "I would ask what I must do", a new fire in his eyes.

"Well, now…that's the Phineas Flynn I know…the one who is able to do innumerable impossible things, both in adulthood and childhood…it will not be easy, though…something of this nature requires sacrifice, although the degree may vary…" "I'll do it!" "Well, then, be prepared to lose even more. You have been warned…" At that moment, S'lar appeared in a Captain's uniform in sickbay. "What must be done is to go to a special and faraway place…it has been decried as a myth and has never been found…there's only ONE such place in the whole universe! Ask me how I know…" "I'm not about to question that…I want to know what I must do to find it." "I'll help you…your brother here has a whole lifetime ahead of him to do great things…and I intend to make sure that he fulfills the will of the Almighty…" "Alright, S'lar, I get it…just help me get my brother back." "No one says please anymore…prepare yourself. I'll need you on the bridge." With that, he vanished with a flash as Phineas took the turbolift to the bridge, where the crew was in tears. "We can bring him back. S'lar has offered to help…he says Ferb has a long life ahead of him, and I intend to make sure he's telling the truth. Who's with me?" The crew all lightened up, all now with a new fire in the eyes of its members.

Yes, this was the twist of fate I was talking about! What will the cost(s) be to bring our beloved Ferb back to his original awesome state? Find out in the sequel entitled Ad Astra 5: The Fight for Ferb! God bless and live long and prosper!

Allusions

• Warp-powered starships (Star Trek)
• The title (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Sacrifice of the Angels)
• A disastrous first contact with an imperialistic alien species (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Jem'Hadar)
• A superweapon attack on earth that cuts a trench from Florida to Venezuela, killing 7 million (Star Trek: Enterprise)
• Battle strategies similar to The Dominion War (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• Quoting part of Charge of the Light Brigade before going into battle (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Sacrifice of the Angels)
• A sneak attack in a nebula (Star Trek Nemesis)
• The design of the IKS K'lathak (somewhat designed similar to Shinzon's ship, the Scimitar, from Star Trek Nemesis)
• The concept of the Platypus Flyer being small, wedge-shaped, fast, and strong (the USS Defiant from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• The sacrifice of Ferb to save the ship by working unprotected in engineering and dying of radiation poisoning and burns (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
• The character of S'lar (Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation, one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and a couple episodes of Star Trek: Voyager)

Author's Comments

• “Well, in an effort to not focus so much on Phinbella elements and be more about the actual space travel theme of the Ad Astra series, I wrote this story to be more about Phineas and Ferb than Phineas and Isabella. I had wanted to experiment with character death for a while, and I used Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982; where Spock dies, but is revivable in the next movie) as a working model. I was demonstrating that even Phineas and Ferb had limitations of their own, and were by no means immune to the no-win scenario with death of at least one for the needs of the many others. And don’t worry; Ferb’s death is reversible, as made apparent by the direction towards Ad Astra 5: The Fight For Ferb in the end.”
• “I always knew Ferb to be a loyal friend and brother to Phineas. I could totally see him as the sacrifice for the needs of the many, so that’s mostly why I made him the selfless hero of the story. That and he’s the primary Science Officer, like Spock was for the time in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I even set up basically the whole situation of Ferb going down to engineering and working in the main reactor chamber without protection like The Wrath of Khan, being first stopped by the Chief Medical Officer, whom he puts unconscious, before going forward with his plan. And Phineas going down in horror to engineering only to find Ferb already near death and being able to be the last one to talk with him before he does fade away was also a shout-out to the movie. I think Gene Roddenberry and Harve Bennett went about killing off Spock in a selfless sacrifice pretty well, later deciding to make it reversible at great cost. Rick Berman’s attempt to redo that with Data in Star Trek Nemesis (2002) wasn’t as good, so I based it off of the more emotional version of The Wrath of Khan.”
• “Creating the Karons was interesting. I had to come up with some enemy species that was imperialistic yet xenophobic, as well as filled with a zealous sense of death with honor, that would be perfectly fine with committing a massive atrocity on earth that would scar its inhabitants without killing any majority of them. I combined the elements of the Klingons, Romulans, and Jem’Hadar from the Star Trek movies and TV shows (I only used the Xindi’s idea of a superweapon that cut a trench on earth from Florida to Venezuela and killed 7 million). They were imperialistic and filled with a sense of honor through death in battle (Klingons and Jem’Hadar), great secrecy (Romulans and Jem’Hadar [more like the Dominion, whom they served as soldiers of]), and overall imperialism (Klingons, Romulans, and the Dominion). Their attack on the USS Hammurabi was based on first contact with the Jem’Hadar in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. They looked in appearance mostly like Klingons, but with the pale purple skin of the Jem’Hadar. Their ships looked like Klingon and Romulan ships, which were designed to look birdlike and fearfully sinister.”