Ascension, Part I (episode)

Just as the Protostar and Voyager crews bring their mission to a close, a former enemy suddenly resurfaces with surprising new powers.
== Summary ==
=== Act One ===
On the , Dal R'El records a personal log, detailing how Starfleet is neutralizing the weapon aboard the and helping the crew of the Protostar find a way to send it back in time to Tars Lamora in order to save both Gwyn and the rest of the universe by fixing the temporal anomaly.
On the holodeck, Nova Squadron practices a Starfleet Academy training module, and chides Grom to cut the chatter, but Dal enters the holodeck and pauses the program. An annoyed Zeph ends the program and questions why Dal has interrupted. Maj'el explains that she invited Dal, thinking it would be a mutually beneficial experience for them all if Dal joined in their training, and they restart the program together.
In Sickbay, The Doctor examines Zeros organic body, but is unable to repair the damage it has sustained from being away from Ovidia IV. Zero laments not having more time with their physical body and its sensations, but The Doctor suggests that, like Jankom Pog has said many times, they should make Zero a new body, taking into account recent Starfleet research in artificial physiology. Zero is overjoyed at the prospect of both looking and feeling like themself, and asks Jankom to oversee the project, to which Jankom agrees.
Elsewhere, Admiral Kathryn Janeway gives Captain Chakotay a new combadge, reassuring him that he'll do fine in the Starfleet debriefing. The two talk of how similar their journeys have been, with both of them travelling across time to get their ships home safely. Calling from Starfleet Headquarters, Admiral Edward Jellico welcomes Chakotay, their time-lost Captain, home. Chakotay, Janeway, and Commander Tysess start to discuss how to send the Protostar back to proper time without causing further damage to the timestream, but Jellico interrupts. He tells them that the Department of Temporal Investigations will take over that mission, and orders Janeway to escort the Protostar to Earth. Jellico intends to get Janeway off of Voyager and back behind a desk, and to reassign and re-evaluate the cadets that Janeway invited onboard Voyager. After the call ends, Janeway affirms her commitment to her crew, and intends to have them handle returning the Protostar anyway. However, both Tysess and Chakotay counsel her to follow Jellico's orders.
In the mess hall, the crew of the Protostar react poorly to the news. Most don't think Starfleet realizes how important it is for Gwyn that the Protostar be returned to the proper time. However, Dal and Gwyn think the mission is too important, and actually they should leave it to the Federation instead of, as Jankom describes their group, the Special Rogue Misfit Division. Gwyn is ordered to the bridge.
=== Act Two ===
On the bridge, Commander Tysess says they are receiving a transmission from a downed Starfleet shuttle on Solum. Ilthuran warns them that Asencia has disbanded Solum's council and assumed control, and is about to wage war on Starfleet using unknown technology to build a military fleet impossibly quickly. Asencia takes over the transmission, and reveals that she now has Voyagers subspace coordinates. Janeway declares that Ilthuran is seeking asylum in the Federation, but Asencia cuts the transmission short. A large ship appears in front of Voyager in an instant, seemingly not arriving via standard warping.
The Rev-1 locks onto Voyager with a beam, draining their shields and preventing them from warping away, then launches torpedoes at the Protostar. Chakotay offers to command the Protostar with its original crew, so Janeway can focus on defending Voyager. While the Protostar crew are en-route to the transporter room, an explosion injures Grom, and Zero takes her to Sickbay. Chakotay orders Dal to take her place flying shuttles with Nova Squadron.
=== Act Three ===
Chakotay, Gwyn, Jankom, Murf, Rok-Tahk, and Bribble beam aboard the Protostar, and Chakotay asks Gwyn to be his first officer. The Protostar moves away from Voyager in order to engage the Rev-1.
Meanwhile, Voyagers shields are failing and they can't get a weapons lock on the Rev-1 due to chronometric interference. Janeway orders Nova Squadron to use the Nova Flyers, which are faster than normal shuttles, to get close to the Rev-1 to relay targeting coordinates to Voyager. Maj'el, Zeph, and Dal take off in Mark 2 Nova Flyers. The Rev-1 deploys drones, which prevent Nova Squadron from locking on to the coordinates.
Dal suggests having Nova Squadron draw the drones away, so that the Protostar can instead fly close to the Rev-1 and get targeting coordinates for Voyager. The plan succeeds, and Voyager is able to fire at the Rev-1, but the drones break off pursuit of Nova Squadron and form a protective shield in front of the Rev-1, blocking Voyagers quantum torpedoes entirely. Voyagers shields fail.
Asencia gloats over her apparent victory, asking someone offscreen if they want to watch too. It is revealed that she has captured Wesley Crusher, who is in some sort of collar hooked up to a machine that allows Asencia to drain or otherwise make use of his Traveler powers.
== Log entries ==
"Dal's personal log. Stardate 61945.4. We finally made it back to Voyager. It seems strange though. Everything looks the same, but it feels different. Maybe we're the ones who changed. We went through a lot to get the Protostar back after it was lost in time. We faced the unexpected. Made some new friends. Our journey left a few bumps and bruises, too. But, when we had nothing else, we had each other. And I realized, maybe home isn't always a place. It's the people you trust the most. Lucky for us, we have Starfleet. Thanks to their know-how and an antivirus upgrade, the weapon on the Protostar is no threat to them. Janeway and Voyagers top minds are helping us find a way to send our old ship back in time to Tars Lamora, where we first found it, so we can fix the past, heal Gwyn, and save the present, and look out for each other a little longer."
:- Dal
== Memorable quotes ==
"So I could look like me, and feel like me? How joyous! And terrifying."
"Indeed, you would retain all such sensations. The good, and bad. Are you certain that is what you want?"
"What is life, if not a balance of both? More than anything, Doctor, I just want to feel like me."
"Very well, I'll contact the Daystrom Institute right away."
"Actually, Doctor, I'd prefer Mr. Pog to oversee the project."
"Z, you're not thinking straight!"
"Your skills are unparalleled, and I'd hoped you could give it the old Jankom touch."
"Aww, now Jankom Pog is touched."
"Ahh, youthful camaraderie. It's settled then. I'll send over some schematics to get started."
"Ha ha! So exhilarating! A new life of unknown possibilities awaits."
:- Zero, The Doctor, and Jankom discussing a new artificial body for Zero
"I remember the first time we saw one of these combadges. It was our last day on Voyager together. Our Voyager, I mean."
"Who could forget? It's not every day you meet a version of yourself from the future, and she blasts you back to the Alpha Quadrant. Strange to think my uniform is so similar to hers now."
"She did give us the designs. Either way, I think it suits you. It's funny, you traveled across time to get Voyager home safe, and I did the same with the Protostar."
"Just like old times."
"Only I'm not your number one anymore. And this isn't the old Voyager."
"Nothing stays the same forever. I'm looking forward to what comes next."
:- Chakotay and Janeway, discussing Voyagers return to the Alpha Quadrant and the Protostars return to the correct time
"Don't worry, Jankom's sure they'll open a Special Rogue Misfit Division just for us."
:- Jankom
"What's going on? Voyagers draining more juice than a dikironium cloud creature."
"The Protostar needs her crew."
"Wait. You want us?"
"It was our ship. Who better?"
"If the Protostar goes down, I go with it. We'll make sure that doesn't happen."
:- Jankom, Chakotay, Dal, and Gwyn, as the Protostars crew new and old unites to protect their ship
"We're down a pilot."
[Chakotay gestures to Dal]
"You sure you know how to fly?"
"Well, I--"
"He knows how to go fast. Go. Starfleet needs you."
"Yes, sir."
:- Zeph, Chakotay, and Dal, as Dal receives an invitation to join Nova Squadron
"Took you long enough."
"You didn't think I was gonna fly this ship all by myself?"
:- Hologram Janeway and Chakotay
"Ready to be my first officer?"
"Yes, sir! Rok, status report."
"Enemy weapons targeting forward shields! And, Bribble just had an oopsie in my pocket..."
:- Chakotay, Gwyn, and Rok
"The osteo-regenerators just can't keep up with all these wounded."
"Well, then we do it the old-fashioned way. [pulls Grom's injured arm back into its socket]"
:- The Doctor and Counselor Noum
"Over here! Mark 2 Nova Flyers, redesigned by Lieutenant Paris himself."
"They look bigger up close..."
"Let's hope they're faster, too."
"Commander Tysess has unlocked the safety protocols. These are not just for target practice anymore."
:- Zeph, Dal, and Maj'el, launching their fighters against the Rev-1
"We only get one shot at this."
"Ah, don't be so dramatic. Uh, recalibrating deflector, Captain."
:- Chakotay and Jankom, with Jankom abruptly realizing his inappropriate response
"I am rather enjoying my new toys. You don't want to watch? Your strategic mind has been so useful... Traveler."
:- Asencia, to a captive Wesley Crusher
== Background information ==
=== Title ===
=== Story and script ===
=== Preproduction ===
=== Production ===
=== Postproduction ===
=== Cast and characters ===
=== Sets and props ===
=== Costumes ===
=== Soundtrack ===
=== Special effects ===
=== Continuity ===
=== Apocrypha ===
=== Reception ===
=== Awards ===
=== Releases ===
== Links and references ==
=== Cast ===
* Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk
* Dee Bradley Baker as Murf
* Brett Gray as Dal
* Angus Imrie as Zero
* Ella Purnell as Gwyn
* Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog
;And
* Kate Mulgrew as
** Admiral Janeway
** Hologram Janeway
* Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher
* John Noble as Ilthuran
* Jimmi Simpson as Drednok
* Jameela Jamil as Asencia
* Robert Beltran as Captain Chakotay
* Robert Picardo as The Doctor
* Michaela Dietz as
** Maj'el
** Grom
* Daveed Diggs as Commander Tysess
* Jason Alexander as Counselor Noum
* Ronny Cox as Admiral Jellico
* Sunkrish Bala as
** 
** Ensign #1
=== References ===
A500; android; asylum; Boothby Supernova; Bynar; cane; Daystrom Institute; debrief; Department of Temporal Investigations; Dikironium cloud creature; evasive maneuvers; Gillian; Living construct; Lurian; Nova Flyer, Mark II; ; quantum torpedo; Rev-1; Rev-1 drone; safety protocols; Starfleet uniform (early 2380s); Starfleet uniform (alternate 2404); Tellarite; war; Watson subspace relays
==== Meta references ====
==== Unreferenced materials ====
=== External links ===
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