"The Fighting Fourth" Explores the Earth Cargo Service During #TheRomulanWar!

The Romulan War: A Star Trek Fan Production has released another installment of their War Stories series.

"The Fighting Fourth" chronicles the adventure of Evander Littlejohn, a civilian engineer serving on a freighter who suddenly finds himself at the center of a dangerous mission to protect Earth Cargo Service ships from Romulan attacks.

"I've always been fascinated by the story of the 'Q-ships' of World War II, where civilian sailors and merchant marines fought back against heavily armed Nazi warships with a surprising degree of success," says Mark Naccarato, the episode's writer/producer. "Civilians are often in the trenches during wartime and the Earth-Romulan War is no exception. One of the themes we address is how this crewman, who has had a relatively safe life running cargo, now has to deal with the existential threat that the Romulans pose to all humans - not just Earth's military forces. You can see how the attitudes and experiences of people like Littlejohn will eventually lead to all of humanity buying into the idea of forming the United Federation of Planets after the war ends."

"The Fighting Fourth" stars Chewe Nkole and was filmed at director Aaron Vanderkley's studio in Perth, Australia. Mark Payton contributed concept art and Trekyards' Samuel Cockings designed a new CGI ship model and delivered some custom special effects shots.

The Romulan War: A Star Trek Fan Production is still accepting contributions on Indiegogo. The completed film is in post-production and is expected to release in 2020.