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Enterprise has finally reached
Azati Prime, the site of the Xindi superweapon. Unfortunately,
Reed can't find any weak spots in the Xindi's formidable
detection grid. Archer suggests utilizing the Insectoid shuttle
the crew recently salvaged to sneak past the grid and locate the
weapon — perhaps they will be able to blend in. After learning
how to operate the craft, Mayweather and Trip take it into Xindi
territory, hoping to scan the weapon. They clear the detection
grid and find that the planet is largely oceanic. They detect
what could be the weapon, so they take the shuttle underwater.
Once there, they find what they're looking for: the weapon is
massive, a truly impressive and horrific sight. They take their
scans and head back to the ship. Meanwhile, Enterprise is
detected and scanned by a Xindi monitoring facility on the
moon's surface. Archer, worried that the facility will alert the
rest of the Xindi, is forced to destroy it.
With Trip and Mayweather safely
back onboard, Archer studies their scans and hatches a bold
plan. One crewmember will need to take the Insectoid craft,
armed with torpedoes, back to the site of the weapon and blow it
up. The trip, however, will be one-way, a suicide mission — and
Archer wants to be the one to carry it out. The crew objects,
but the captain's decision is final.
As he prepares for the mission, Archer is confronted by the
mysterious time-traveling operative known as Daniels. This time,
Daniels brings Archer four hundred years into the future to the
Enterprise-J. Daniels illuminates the mystery behind the
Expanse's sphere-builders. The sphere-builders are
trans-dimensional beings — the test subject Enterprise recently
encountered belonged to the same species. As Archer suspected,
these beings are reshaping the Expanse to make it habitable for
their species. It is, Daniels notes, a prelude to an invasion.
In the future, the "Federation" Daniels keeps mentioning — which
humans are an integral part of — drives these trans-dimensional
beings back into their own realm. The beings, who are able to
examine alternate timelines, have seen this future and are
determined to change the outcome. They are the ones who
convinced the Xindi that humanity needed to be destroyed. In
fact, Daniels says, humans will one day protect the Xindi from
the sphere-builders.
Daniels insists that Archer needs to contact the Xindi and come
to a peaceful resolution — the captain must not sacrifice
himself. Archer, however, is determined to carry out his plan.
Daniels finally gives him a medal that belongs to a Xindi
crewmember of the Enterprise-J. This, he hopes, will prove
useful.
After bidding an emotional farewell to his crew, Archer heads
down to Azati Prime. But when he arrives at the weapon site, the
weapon is gone. Archer is discovered and taken prisoner. He is
then tortured by the Xindi-Reptilians, who want him to reveal
information about Earth vessels in the Expanse. The Reptilian
commander threatens him, saying that they know where Enterprise
is and can easily destroy it. Archer relents — but he will only
talk to Degra, the Xindi-Humanoid Enterprise has encountered in
the past. Using the information and the Xindi medal from
Daniels, Archer attempts to convince Degra that deploying the
superweapon will lead to the extinction of both their species.
Archer is able to make inroads with Degra and some of Degra's
Xindi allies, but the impatient Reptilian commander returns and
orders Archer taken away for more questioning. He also reveals
that Enterprise is under attack. Degra angrily insists the
Reptilian call off the attack, but the Reptilian merely has
Degra escorted back to his ship.
And indeed, Enterprise is weathering what may be the worst
battle its crew has ever faced. The Xindi have managed to
brutally damage the ship and the crew is valiantly struggling to
stay alive...
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