'RETURN FIRE!' shouts Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel as the remaining section of the Alpha Flight Space Station is struck by enemy fire. Red-alert lights flash within the station, as Lieutenant Commander Abigail Brand reports that plasma cannons are having no effect. 'Incoming – brace yourself!' Dr Walter Langkowski a.k.a. Sasquatch shouts as he sits at one of the consoles. Captain Marvel and Aurora a.k.a. Jeanne-Marie Beaubier are knocked sideways as another blast strikes the station. Aurora checks her device and reports that there was a direct hit on the science module, and that life support systems are critical. 'Puck, tell me you're close on the shields!' Carol calls out over the communicator.
In a lab, Eugene Milton Judd a.k.a. Puck lies under a large piece of equipment and replies 'Give me a break, Danvers. I'm trying to turn a water recovery system into a shield generator, it takes a little time!' Lieutenant Wendy Kawasaki is with Puck, holding a tool, as Carol tells them that they are out of time. 'This isn't gonna work...' Wendy utters as another blast sends her falling backwards. 'It's gonna work, Wendy' Puck tells her he emerges from under the water recovery system. He then tells Wendy to fire it up, to reroute power from the science module. Wendy taps away at a console and reports that there is no power in the science module. 'Fine. How important is gravity to you?' Puck asks.
Back on the bridge, one of the few remaining Alpha Flight Space Station crew members reports that there is a minor fluctuation in the Satori port shields. Carol instructs Brand to target it with everything they have. Sasquatch announces that environmental and life support systems are down to twenty percent. 'Another direct hit and it's gone -' he begins, as Aurora declares that they are charging weapons.
'Eugene, report!' Carol orders over the communicator again, while Puck continues to busy himself under the water recovery system. 'Puck?' Wendy asks, while Puck sings “...took it all for granted, but how was I to know”.
Carol asks Wendy what is going on down there, to which Wendy replies that Puck is trying to fix this, and is also singing Canadian pop songs. “Now it cuts like a knife...” Puck sings, as Carol demands that he answers her. “Yeah, but it feels so right...” Puck continues to sing, before instructing Wendy to do it. Wendy presses a button, and smiles, 'It's working – I think it's working!' she smiles.
'Let's hope' Carol replies back on the bridge as she stares at the viewscreen which shows the Satori Vessel unleashing fire once again – but the weapons don't strike the station. 'Shields are holding' Sasquatch reports. Carol tells Puck and Wendy over the communicator that they did good work, before turning to her crew on the bridge and points out that this only buys them time, and not a lot. 'We're never going to beat them with firepower' she adds, to which Sasquatch suggests that they may be able to use their own technology against them. 'Their ships are linked – almost like organisms within an ecological system' Aurora explains. Sasquatch adds that they believe that if they affect one organism, the other will be equally affected – for instance, with a virus, specifically designed to disrupt the vessel's systems. 'Sounds like you're describing a biological weapon' Brand points out. Carol states that it affects the ships, not the crew, and asks how quickly this can happen. 'Immediately' Sasquatch replies, so Carol instructs him to do it. Carol reports that she and Warshauer will hold down the fort here, to which Brand asks what she is supposed to be doing. 'Making sure whoever took out our shields doesn't do it again' Carol tells her.
Armed with a weapon, Brand leaves the bridge, and looks up at a very long ladder. Carol speaks to her over the communicator and instructs her to take the scenic route, to stay out of the main corridors, as they will be looking for her. Brand climbs the ladder, and listens as Carol tells her to use any necessary force. 'If they can get at our shields, they can get at anything'. Several corridors lead off the ladder, and down one of them, a clanging noise can be heard. Brand reaches that corridor and peers into it. 'Come on, Brand. You've been on me since day one about being in a command position' Carol reminds Brand, as weapons fire is blasted towards her, 'I'm delegating. You should be happy' Carol points out, while Brand falls backwards to dodge the weapons fire, she doesn't fall off as her weapon is latched onto the ladder. 'Yeah, I'm thrilled' Brand mutters, looking at the damage the weapons fire did to the edge of the corridor.
In the hangar bay, Sasquatch and Aurora stand near the Satori jet they apprehended earlier, and Sasquatch holds a few syringes, he explains to Aurora that it is essentially an alien version of the Hantavirus – an RNA strand that leads to apoptosis – cellular death. Aurora asks if it is dangerous to them, to which Sasquatch replies 'No. I mean, don't lick it'. 'Noted' Aurora tells him. They look at part of the jet, and Aurora reports that all communication pathways to the mothership are functioning, and that the ship has almost entirely repaired itself. 'Good. Let's kill it' Sasquatch announces as he injects the ship with the virus. 'Will that be enough?' Aurora enquires. Sasquatch tells her that he hopes so, and explains that he could only engineer a limited supply. They watch as the virus starts to eat away at the jet. 'It's fast' Aurora points out. There is a loud BOOM and Sasquatch grabs Aurora as she is knocked sideways. 'Too fast' Sasquatch remarks.
'I thought you said it worked' Carol tells Sasquatch as he and Aurora follow her down a corridor. 'It does' Sasquatch replies. 'Then why is your fur so sad?' Carol asks. Aurora explains that the cellular breakdown occurs too quickly, that it kills the pathways to the mothership before it can spread. Carol asks Sasquatch if he can fix it, and he tells her that he can – in twelve hours. There is another explosion as the Alpha Flight Space Station is struck by Satori fire. 'We don't have twleve minutes at this rate. I need other options' Carol replies. Aurora tells her that they would have to find a way to directly deliver the virus to the mothership. Carol asks if they can arm a missile, but Sasquatch tells her that the explosion would destroy the virus. 'Then there's only one thing to do' Carol smirks, and Aurora and Sasquatch look at each other.
Carol, Sasquatch and Aurora return to the bridge, where Puck, Kawasaki and the other crew member are working. 'Open a line to the Satori vessel' Carol commands. 'They haven't been responding to -' the crew member begins. 'They'll respond to this' Carol declares, as there is another blast from the Satori vessel, striking the space station. 'That was a big one. Our shields dropped back to fifty percent' Puck announces, while the crew member reports that the channel is open to the Satori vessel. Brand enters the bridge as Carol calls out 'Satori vessel. This is... this is Mar-Vell of the Kree Imperial Militia'. 'What did she say?' Brand asks. 'Danvers, what the hell are you doing?' Puck calls out. 'If you cease fire immediately and leave this system... I will surrender myself to your custody' Carol announces. 'No!' Wendy gasps, while Brand points at the crew member and orders him to shut the link down. 'The Satori have accepted your terms' the crew member replies.
Carol, Sasquatch and Brand walk together, as Brand declares that there is another way. 'No, Abigail, there isn't' Carol replies. 'I'm not letting you commit suicide!' Brand exclaims. 'Good, because I don't plan on dying' Carol replies. She asks Sasquatch if the Satori jet he infected will fly, to which he tells her that it won't. Carol remarks that she will have to give it a good push. 'You're going to use it to infect the mother ship, like a Trojan Horse – but you're the horse. Clever'. Sasquatch tells Carol. 'Reckless' Brand declares. Carol smirks and replies that she accepts both of those as compliments. Brand asks what happens if it doesn't work. 'What if they figure it out? What if they blow you out of the sky before you get there? What do you expect us to do then?' Carol looks back at Brand and tells her that she expects her to evacuate the station, immediately. 'I absolutely will not -' Brand begins, but Carol interrupts her: 'It's an order, Abigail. And you know it's the right one'. Carol tells them that she will try to buy them as much time as she can – maybe even convince the Satori that they are not the bad guys. 'You're insane' Brand declares. 'Agreed' Carol tells her, adding that she hopes that she is more of a diplomat than she looks. 'I'm not loving the odds' Brand remarks. 'Yeah, me neither' Carol agrees, before asking Brand to get everyone to safety as she puts a hand on Abigail's shoulder.
Inside the Satori jet, Carol tells herself that she is not a matyr and does not have a death wish. Brand, Alpha Flight and the remaining crew member watch on the view monitor on the bridge, while Carol thinks that she is a pragmatist, and that sometimes, to win the war, somebody has got to take the hit. The jet arrives on the Satori mothership, and Satori soldiers surround Carol as she holds her hands above her head, then drops to her knees. 'So let's get this over with' Carol thinks as she is led away.
Back on the bridge of the remaining section of the Alpha Flight Space Station, Kawasaki starts to say 'We can't abandon -' as Brand interrupts her, declaring that they aren't abandoning anybody and that they can coordinate from the ground.
'They're going to kill her!' Kawasaki exclaims. 'We don't know that they can kill her' Sasquatch points out, adding that given their technology, there is a high probability. Brand reminds the others that Captain Marvel gave them all a direct order to evacuate, and pointing out of the bridge, she instructs them to get to the aerolith. 'We can do more to help her up here than down there' Aurora remarks, but Brand declares that the only thing they are doing up here is getting their butts handed to them. 'They will use us against her' Brand points out. There is another rumbling, 'What the hell was that?' Brand calls out. 'They're firing at us again!' Wendy Kawasaki exclaims. The crew member checks the monitor and reports that no weapons have been fired, but that there has been an explosion onboard the station. 'Where?' Wendy asks.
Shortly, Brand, Sasquatch and Aurora stand over the body of a crew member in another part of the station. Sasquatch identifies him as Lieutenant Bradner, and tells Aurora and Brand that he was supposed to have evacuated with the first wave. 'Our saboteur killed himself in the process' Aurora points out. Brand holds up another communication device she has taken from the lieutenant and remarks that he had a secondary communicator – meaning he was working with someone else.
Aboard the Satori vessel, Carol stands between two large Satori who watch over her, as another holds up the small translator device. She explains what it is to him and asks if she really wanted to kill them, why would they be trying to understand them? The Satori looks back at her and points out that the Kree wish to understand many things. 'How much pain can one withstand before losing consciousness. How much heat one can endure before bursting into flames' he asks her. 'That isn't me' Carol replies sternly. The Satori remarks that she is genetically Kree, to which Carol explains that she was born human, and that if he has got an hour, she can try and explain how the hell that happened. 'And yet you wear the Hala star' the Satori observes on Carol's costume. 'Well... that seemed like a good idea at the time' Carol replies, as the Satori reminds her that the Kree destroyed their homeworld. 'And now the Kree homeworld has been destroyed. You're fighting a war that's already over' Carol smirks. Carol then breaks the shackles that the Satori placed on her wrists, and tells the Satori that Mar-Vell of Kree came to this panet and fought for justice – he changed, and she believes they can do the same. 'This is justice, Mar-Vell' the Satori replies, as something strikes Carol.
In the AFSS weapons bay, Brand readies some weapons as Wendy asks her why they don't just get on ships and fly to Earth. 'Thought you wanted to stay here' Brand remarks, to which Wendy reminds her that there is a saboteur onboard trying to kill them. Brand puts some armor over her uniform and declares that there is an alien ship just outside also trying to kill them. 'I know that. Somehow that seems...palatable' Wendy replies, holding some weapons. Brand tells her to suit up, that they are going hunting. 'Me?' Wendy asks, surprised. Sasquatch's voice is heard over the comms system informing Brand that they have a problem. 'Just one?' Brand replies. Sasquatch states that scans indicate the virus is moving through the Satori vessel's systems, but at a much slower pace than anticipated – meaning that they are hours away from having any real effect. 'That's not gonna work. What if we strap the virus to a missile?' Brand responds. In the armor now, Wendy tells her that the virus would incinerate before it infected the ship. Aurora's voice is heard over the communicator next, informing Brand that they have a problem. 'So I've heard...' Brand mutters, before asking what is going on. 'The virus...it's missing' Aurora announces. ''What the hell do you mean “missing”?' Brand enquires, before asking if anyone has seen Puck.
Back aboard the Satori vessel: 'C'mon, Carol' Puck thinks to himself as he emerges from the Satori jet. He flips onto the ground and tells himself that it is the lack of trust that really ticks him off. 'Like Alpha Flight is so incompetent that your only choice is to sacrifice yourself to save us?' Puck thinks, standing before a door, he sees some sort of control panel. 'That hurts me. That hurts me a lot' Puck thinks to himself as he shoves the syringe into the panel. Puck admits that when he is hurt, he will sometimes make decisions that could be deemed rash. A door opens and a Satori officer appears. Puck leaps onto him, thinking that, on the plus side, he is starting to feel a lot better.
In a darkened office aboard the AFSS, someone taps away at a keyboard. “Deleting Selected Files Requires Password” appears on screen. A password is typed in, when suddenly, 'Don't do it, Garcia' a voice calls out. Garcia is the Ensign who Brand assigned to look after the Eridani delegation. The short-haired woman frowns as Brand and Kawasaki appear behind her, aiming their weapons at her. 'It probably goes without saying, but you are very fired' Brand declares. 'For doing my duty? For protecting the Earth?' Garcia asks. 'How about for being a traitor?' Brand suggests. Garcia picks up a weapon on the console and tells Brand that she will have to prove it first, swinging around in the chair, she shoots at Brand, but misses. Brand and Kawasaki open fire, and Kawasaki's weapon fire strikes Garcia across her shoulder. 'Where'd you learn to shoot like that, Kawasaki?' Brand smiles as she helps Kawasaki to her feet. 'Um...mostly laser tag' Kawasaki replies, while Garcia clutches her shoulder.
Carol looks nervous, some sort of energy field crackles around her, while thinking to herself that she knows she is supposed to be pursuing diplomacy here, and she reiterates that she is not a violent person – but decides that if anybody needs to be punched, it is this Satori, who tells Captain Marvel that as she can surmise, their extensive research into Kree physiology has been productive. He stands over Carol who is on the floor, and explains that they believed Kree could not feel pain, so of course they were delighted to prove themselves wrong. 'What you're doing makes you no better than the Kree' Carol tells the Satori, who declares that nothing could equal the atrocities committed by the Kree people. 'They were not my people -' Carol reminds him, but he tells her that she speaks Kree lies, and that she will die along with every being on this planet that has protected her. 'I really, really don't want to hurt you' Carol replies as sweat pours down her face. 'Another lie' the Satori remarks, aiming some sort of spear towards her. Carol suddenly grabs the spear, 'I know you won't believe me, but I'm sorry for what's about to happen' Carol tells him, as Puck slams his feet into the alien's face.
Carol uses the spear to help herself stand up, and asks Puck what he is doing. 'Rescuing your ass! I shot the rest of the virus into every panel of goo I could find!' Puck calls back. Suddenly, part of the Satori vessel splits open, and some of the aliens are sucked out into space. 'Cap, come on, we gotta go. This ship is falling apart!' Puck calls out. Carol tells the Satori that they can help all of them, can evacuate their ship and bring their crew to the station. 'You don't have to do this anymore' she declares, extending a hand to him.
Shortly, aboard the AFSS in the hangar bar, Brand tells Carol that she may have over-corrected on the whole diplomacy thing. 'Why? This is great. Our first refugees' Carol replies as Puck and the AFSS crew member stand watch over the Satori. 'Yeah. Murderous, technologically advanced refugees with a chip on their shoulders. Where the hell are we supposed to put them all?' Brand replies. Carol tells her that it was the right thing to do. 'Oh, sir, sir, could you just give that back to me?' Wendy calls out to one of the Satori who has taken her device. 'If that virus hadn't worked, how close were you to kicking all their skulls in?' Brand asks. 'Super close' Carol tells her. Aurora calls out to Carol, and introduces her to Zory. Aurora explains that Zory is the Satori science officer, and that she has an interesting trick to show her. Zory holds up a small device, and Sasquatch explains that their regeneration process is easily adapted to their technology. 'Impressive' Carol admits, before telling Zory that she has about three billion jobs for her.
Captain Marvel and Commander Brand walk side by side down a corridor, as Carol remarks to Brand that she has to have a warm fuzzy or two about that. 'Don't get too squishy yet, Captain. We've got some unfinished business' Brand points out. They enter a room where Ensign Garcia is being held. 'I have to congratulate you, Ensign Garcia. You really fooled Lieutenant Commander Beand' Carol remarks. 'Very embarrassing for her. So good for you, Garcia' Carol declares. 'Seriously?' Brandm utters. 'Or I guess I should call you Lira' Carol snaps at Garcia, asking her what she did to herself – get some kind of gene replacement? 'I don't have to tell you anything' Garcia snaps. 'You don't have a choice, sweetheart! You're Eridani. Pretending to be human so you can, what, set up other Eridanis? Why?' Brand asks. Garcia frowns and declares that Brand knows nothing about the Eridani. 'If you did, you'd never enter into an agreement with them' she points out. 'Then why don't you tell us?' Carol asks. Garcia suggests that Captain Marvel do a little research, and reveals that there are two classes of Eridani – the ruling class and the slaves. 'They exploit the poor to fulfill their own needs. And now, to fulfil the needs of this station' Garcia declares. 'So you hurt innocent people to get your point across? Why not just say something?' Carol asks. 'You wouldn't have listened! I had to take action' Garcia replies, tears forming. Carol goes wide-eyed as Garcia declares 'Words don't matter'.
'Words don't matter. Sounds crazy when she says it' Carol thinks to herself as she enters her office. Carol walks around her large desk, as Brand stands in the doorway and reports that the Eridani delegation has been released, and that they canceled their waste management contract. 'Good. Saves us the trouble' Carol points out, before Brand apologizes for Garcia. 'Nothing to be sorry about. It was an incredible disguise. Down to the DNA' Carol replies. Brand stands at Carol's desk as Carol sits down. 'You're being very understanding' Brand points out. 'You only have yourself to blame. All that diplomacy garbage is really speaking to me now' Carol smiles, adding that this is the first time she has even seen this desk. 'Yeah? What do you think?' Brand asks. 'Not bad. Pretty comfortable -' Carol begins, when suddenly, the red alert alarm sounds. Brand rushes out of Carol's office, with Carol flying alongside her. 'Oh, thank God...' she smiles.
