E Squared

2154 saw the NX-01 frantically still trying to prevent the Xindi attack on Earth. Archer eventually managed to convince the Xindi weapon designer Degra of Earth's peaceful intention towards the Xindi, and Degra had arranged a meeting with the Xindi ruling council. To reach the meeting the NX-01 had to enter a subspace corridor guarded by the Kovaalans, a species which attacked trespassers on sight. On the way to the corridor, the NX-01 encountered another NX class ship - the Enterprise NX-01!

The ship's captain, Lorian boarded Enterprise and informed Archer that his current mission is destined to fail; as the NX-01 entered the corridor the weapon discharges from the battle with the Kovaalans destabilised it, causing the ship to be thrown back in time 117 years. This was the origin of Lorian's Enterprise - his ship had been wandering the Delphic Expanse for more than a hundred years looking for a way to prevent the Xindi attack on Earth. The ship had become a generation vessel, manned by the descendants of the original crew. Lorian explained that he had attempted to destroy the first Xindi probe, but had failed in his mission. Now he was determined to see that Archer reached his rendezvous with the Xindi council to prevent the second attack from happening. Lorian wanted Archer to avoid the corridor entirely, using an alien technology acquired by the alternate vessel to modify the injector assembly and enable the ship to travel fast enough to reach the council via normal warp travel

Although a little sceptical, Archer is convinced of the story when he met T'Pol, still aboard the NX-01 although now much older. However, the older T'Pol informed Archer that Lorian's plan was not technically feasible. She believes that Enterprise should still travel via the subspace corridor, reconfiguring the ship's impulse manifolds to prevent the accident. Archer agreed and informed Lorian of his intentions.

Unfortunately, Lorian was unconvinced. Fearing that Archer would fail to prevent the Xindi weapon from destroying Earth, he decided to forcibly take the injectors from Enterprise so that he can travel to the rendezvous point and meet with the council himself. Lorian successfully stole the injectors, but provoked a battle between the two NX-01s. The battle ended in a stalemate, but Lorian's crew were reluctant to continue firing on their own ancestors and so Lorian was forced to stand down.

Back on Enterprise, Lorian revealed the reason for his determination - he had indeed had a chance to stop the Xindi probe by ramming it, but had been unable to bring himself to kill his own crew. Shame over this failure had driven him to desperation. Archer suggested that the two ships might be able to work together to pass through the Kovaalan ambush, and Lorian agreed.

The two ships managed to fight off the Kovaalan attack, but only by leaving the future NX-01 behind was Archer able to secure a clear run through the corridor. Once safely through, however, the NX-01 never again heard from the future version of the ship. T'Pol speculated that the other Enterprise did not survive the battle, but Archer wondered if making it through the corridor might not have restored the original timeline, removing the future NX-01 from history. However, this posed the question of why the NX-01 crew still remembered their descendants. [1]

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