Fan Film Friday: Star Trek: The Romulan Wars: ‘The Wounded’

The last time we discussed the fan phenomenon known as “independent productions,” we took a look at the fourth episode in the Star Trek: The Romulan Wars series, so I think it’s logical to pick up where we left off and check out the group’s fifth episode, “The Wounded.”

For a change, things have been quiet for months for the crew of the U.S.S. Yorktown. So quiet, in fact, that Captain William Stiles (played by Bryan Justice) wonders aloud if “the Romulans have taken a vacation.”

Just then, Starfleet Command sends a message that contact has been lost with the 12th Squadron—which had been engaged in war games in the Sexton System—and since the Yorktown is the closest ship (as usual in Star Trek), the crew is ordered to investigate the situation.

When the starship reaches the location, the sensors detect massive amounts of radiation that could have come from several warp corp breaches and nuclear explosions. Upon further investigation, the crew finds a debris field that contains what’s left of the squadron with no signs of life.

In addition, the crew detects the remains of two Romulan vessels, one of which has been obliterated but another that’s mostly intact. That leads the captain to conclude that the Romulans tried to destroy their own vessels in an attempt to prevent their ships from being captured and to take out the Federation squadron all in one stroke.

Nevertheless, Stiles decides to take advantage of the opportunity to examine an enemy vessel, so he sends his first officer, Lieutenant Culter (Melissa Jecker), Lieutenant Eric Simms (Scotty Whitehurst) and Vulcan officer Skon (Wesley Guthrie) to take a shuttle and learn what they can about the ship.

After taking the shuttle (which has an interesting design including two nacelles and three windows through which you can see the officers within, thanks to CGI) to the Romulan vessel, Cutler and Simms find the reason that ship didn’t explode: Its self-destruct mechanism on the bridge had been damaged.

Otherwise, every member of the crew and any other equipment not secured had been pulled out into space as a result of the hull damage caused by explosions during the confrontation.

But that doesn’t mean the ship isn’t still dangerous, as proven by an unexpected surge of energy from a nacelle that traps Cutler under some debris and injures her left leg.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, one of the nuclear warheads is activated, so Simms helps free Cutler and supports her as they make it back to the shuttle, even though they have to leave their tricorders behind.

As the shuttle departs from the Romulan ship, Skon estimates that an explosion will occur in just 20 seconds, not enough time for them to get clear of the force from the atomic device.

Back on the Yorktown, the captain orders a grappling hook to take hold of the shuttle and then commands the ship to take off at warp speed.

Unfortunately, the force of the explosion catches up with them too soon and violently knocks both the starship and the shuttle in different directions.

When the crew of the Yorktown regains control, there’s no sign of the shuttle, which is stranded because one of its nacelles was extensively damaged by the blast and is leaking plasma.

When the officers recover, Skon estimates that the damage to the shuttle will cause it to explode in 3.56 minutes.

As the pressure mounts, Simms shows his disdain for Vulcans when Skon calmly explains the dire situation the three officers face. But Cutler comes up with a novel idea to separate the shuttle from the damaged nacelle: a version of an activity called “Crack the Whip.”

The first officer then orders that the shuttle to be spun in circles to the right with full impulse power, then instantly reverse direction. The resulting jolt sends the damaged nacelle away from the craft.

Things go from bad to worse when Cutler is unable to make contact with the Yorktown but is able to detect another vessel approaching: a Romulan ship with a female commander (Heather Roberts) in control, as well as Centurion Deylenor (Cody Honey) and the Pilot (Jeff Ames), whose frayed relations show that there’s conflict on both sides of the war.

Spoiler Alert: If you’d rather watch the fan film’s ending yourself, skip down to my Clint Eastwood review; or if not, just continue reading.

Cutler again comes up with an unconventional strategy when she orders Skon to increase the power in the remaining nacelle, then eject it before it causes an explosion powerful enough for the Yorktown’s sensors to detect.

However, the Federation starship and the enemy vessel both detect the shuttle at about the same time. When the Romulans close in on the small craft, the Yorktown fires on the jettisoned nacelle, causing enough of an explosion to rock the enemy ship before its crew regains control and cloaks.

While Deylenor demands an attack on the Federation vessels, the Commander decides to “tend to our own wounds” and take the information they’ve gained back to their leader, the Praetor.

“Then it’s over?” the Pilot asks.

“It’s far from over,” the Centurion replies angrily.

And this column is also “far from over” as I don my dust-covered Clint Eastwood hat and get reviewing.

The Good: As usual, this installment of The Romulan Wars tells a good story. “The Wounded” thrusts three “lesser” characters into a life-or-death situation and even gives us a look at the tension behind enemy lines.

Again, I have to say that it’s always enjoyable to see Ensign Simms, who has enough foibles for the rest of the crew and then some. His heated clash with Skon reminded me of Doctor McCoy and Mister Spock from Classic Trek, and you can’t get much better than that!

Also, I want to compliment the episode’s use of special effects, particularly the debris field of Federation and Romulan vessels and the gymnastics the shuttle and its crew had to go through in order to survive.

The Bad: There are still some kinks in the production, such as some actors appearing to have very yellow complexions at various times of the production. Wars is still in a learning curve, but the updated version I saw showed significant progress, which I hope to see more of in future adventures of the U.S.S. Yorktown.

The Ugly: I have to apologize for not being able to stick with Fan Film Friday after I took a serious financial hit back in February. Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time looking for someone to hire a writer/proofreader/copy editor, and while I’ve had a couple of close calls, I’m still on the prowl for things I can do and get paid for. Sigh.

At this point, I don’t know that I can promise to have a new FFF every week, but I’ll do my best to keep the reviews coming while I search for gainful employment.

If you’d like to see “The Wounded” for yourself, aim your Web browser to this location. And if you’d like to learn more about the group, go to their Website here.

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