It was tough getting Spock's infodump in panel 5 down to that number of words. It's kind of important to the plot to explain why they need to destroy the Doomsday machine, but the first version I wrote was nearly twice as long. So I pared it back as much as I could.

And then proceeded to add a gag to the panel by adding dialogue from Decker and McCoy.

I always thought the Doomsday machine looked a bit like a windsock. Turns out there's a good reason for that. It was one - dipped in concrete render to make it solid for use as a shooting prop.

Transcript

1
Captain's log, Stardate 4202.9. The USS Constellation is adrift in space.
Spock: Most of the planets in this system have been destroyed. Whatever did it must have hit their ship too.
2
Kirk: Scotty, Bones! Let's beam over!
Spock: Don't you want to know if Constellation has life support?
Kirk: Well, does it?
Spock: ... yes...
Kirk: What are we waiting for?!
3
{on the Constellation}
Scotty: The antimatter has been deactivated.
Kirk: How do you deactivate antimatter?
Scotty: Reverse the polarity of all the particles, I guess.
4
McCoy: Commodore Decker! He's dead, Jim!
Decker: That thing! Attacked us! Thing! Argh!!
McCoy: ... no wait, he's alive.
5
{Enterprise bridge}
Spock: Constellation's tapes indicate attack by a robotic Doomsday machine. It destroys planets and uses them for fuel. It came from outside our Galaxy, and is headed for the most populated region.
Decker: {over radio} My crew, all dead!
McCoy: {over radio} They're dead, Jim!
6
{Constellation engine room}
Kirk: Bones, take Matt Decker back to Enterprise. I'll stay here and help Scotty get Constellation moving.
Scotty: I'll work on the engines, you solder this.
Kirk: Isn't this a coffee machine?
Scotty: Nay, it's an... important engine... thing.
7
{Enterprise bridge}
Decker: I assume command of Enterprise and order a suicide revenge attack!
McCoy: Vengeance on a dumb brute that smote thee from blindest instinct? Madness!
Spock: Are you certifying him unfit for command?
McCoy: No, just saying.
8
{external view of Constellation viewing the Doomsday Machine about to engulf the Enterprise}
Scotty: Engines ready, cap'n!
Kirk: Let's stop that thing from destroying the Enterprise! Full ahead!
SFX: Griiind!
Kirk: Oops, left the handbrake on.
9
{Enterprise bridge}
Spock: Commodore Decker, you are relieved. Relinquish command or I shall place you under arrest.
Decker: You're bluffing.
Spock: Vulcans never bluff.
Decker: Didn't Kirk ever teach you poker?
Spock: Maybe...
10
{external view}
Caption: Decker steals a shuttlecraft:
Decker: I'm gonna ram that thing!
Kirk: Matt! It's suicide! Don't you have a son to live for?
Decker: I'm sure you'll look after him, Jim. Assist his first command.
11
{Constellation engine room}
Kirk: Scotty, rig the engines to explode, on a 30-second delay trigger, to give me time to beam out.
Scotty: Don't ye want a longer delay? Or a remote trigger we can activate from the Enterprise?
Kirk: No!
12
{Enterprise bridge}
SFX: Kaboom!
Kirk: We destroyed a Doomsday machine, using a nuclear explosion. Ironic, huh?
Spock: No, merely logical.
Kirk: It'd be ironic in the 1960s, trust me.