Editing Doomsday Machine (section)

== The Battle ==
As the ''Enterprise'' held alongside the ''Constellation'', it was suddenly and swiftly attacked by the planet killer. Although the ''Enterprise'' was more maneuverable, the weapon was extremely fast and gaining on its target. In the first volley, the ''Enterprise'' took heavy damage, with shields almost exhausted and transporters and communications damaged. While Captain Kirk was trapped with the boarding party aboard the ''Constellation'', Spock ordered evasive action. Commodore Decker, taken aboard the ''Enterprise'' for medical treatment, exercised his authority to assume command under Starfleet [[Starfleet General Orders & Directives|General Order 104]] and countermanded Spock's orders to avoid the machine and seek a clear space to warn Starfleet. With a combination of seeking retribution for the loss of his ship and crew, and the presumption that the nearby Rigel colonies would be the next target of the machine, Decker ordered an immediate attack on the weapon. However, the ''Enterprise'' was overwhelmed as quickly as the ''Constellation'' had been, and soon trapped by a [[Tractor Beam]] which was pulling the ship towards the planet killer's maw.

Meanwhile, on the ''Constellation'', Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott managed to effect partial repairs to the impulse engines and a single phaser bank. Kirk launched a diversionary attack on the Planet Killer that allowed both ships to escape. The planet killer apparently had a relatively simple and straightforward defensive computer program that only allowed it to engage single targets within a specific range. The immediate danger past, Captain Kirk ordered Decker relieved of command of the ''Enterprise''.
[[File:Doomsday Machine 3.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The ''Constellation'' enters the maw of the machine]]
As the two Starfleet ships withdrew, the planet killer returned to L-374 and resumed consuming the planetary debris, taking in additional fuel. When Decker gave indications he was going to continue to press the attack despite narrowly avoiding disaster in the previous engagement, he was relieved of command by Spock under direct orders from Kirk on the basis that to continue to press the futile attacks would be indication he was suicidal, and was ordered to report to sickbay for a psychological examination.

Suffering from a mental break-down brought on by extreme stress and the loss of his ship, crew and command, Commodore Decker escaped custody and stole a [[Type-1 Personnel Shuttlecraft]] from the ''Enterprise'', piloting it on a suicide course directly into the weapon's maw, where it was quickly destroyed. However, the ''Enterprise'' sensors detected a small drop in the power output of the planet killer – the shuttlecraft's explosion, however small, had in fact caused some minor damage to the weapon from the inside. Based on this data, Captain Kirk proposed detonating the ''Constellation'' 's main impulse engines inside the Planet Killer, creating a much bigger explosion and hopefully causing major damage to the weapon, if not destroying it outright.

As the ''Enterprise'' held position near the Planet Killer, outside of weapons range, Kirk piloted the ''Constellation'' on a direct course toward the weapon.  Beaming out at the last second, he detonated the ''Constellation's'' engines directly inside the weapon's maw, bypassing the neutronium hull, and effectively dropping its power output to zero (in essence completely disabling the machine). It should be noted that due to the presence of the seemingly impenetrable neutronium hull, the hulk (or "corpse") of the planet killer was left intact, floating lifelessly in space. Following the battle, Captain Kirk noted in his log that Commodore Decker gave his life in the line of duty.  (TOS|The Doomsday Machine)