Star Crossed Fanfic

[Master of Ossus]

BTW, assuming that you DID rush that part of the story, do NOT feel like you are alone in doing so. It is often easier to take the quick road to success. I myself have often made this mistake, only to realize that I had to go back and edit, and sometimes even completely re-write entire sections of whatever I was working on. This is a VERY common mistake, and it is no shame to have fallen for it. Keep it up, Stravo. You are a very talented writer and this story clearly demonstrates that.

[Captain Cyran]

Very well done, I liked it.

[Crown]

DUDE! You stopped just before a Federation ships goes BOOM!

Don't listen to the others!

Rush!
Ruch!

[Stravo]

Okey Dokey.....here we have the long awaited Chapter 5



Chapter 5: Applications of Force


“Standby on all weapons, track them!” Captain Tarsi snapped. Mara Jade stood behind him, watching the tactical displays and glancing out of the view ports. One of the Federation ships was flashing underneath their bow, angry red beams slashed out at their shields, followed by a series of small missile weapons that exploded against the prow of the Adjudicator in an impressive light show.

“Their torpedoes are inferior to the Borg weapons we encountered, sir.” Tarsi’s tactical officer reported.

“Keep them in range, set the heavy turbolasers to flak mode, and don’t give them time to use this warp drive of theirs.” Tarsi glanced back at Mara. “My troops are assembling in the hangar bay, will you want to join them?”

“Of course, captain, but I want to see this Federation in action. So far I am not impressed.” Mara replied coolly.

“Sir the other two Federation ships are moving away from us at high sublight speed. Should we destroy them?”

“Focus on this foolhardy soul. Prepare a barrage from our ion cannons, I want him disabled as soon as possible before he realizes that he is outclassed and outmatched.”

“I believe he is covering for the other two ships to escape.” Mara commented.

“They will not escape us for long. The flak is pretty thick out there, it should provide enough of a disturbance to keep them from initiating their super light engines. Besides, I have a surprise for those two.” Tarsi replied. She watched him, he was like a sentry dog let loose, and he roamed his bridge like some predator, overjoyed at the prospect of combat. Lord Nemesis and Admiral Kittaine had chosen the right man for this mission. Captain Tarsi and the Adjudicator had the most kills of Borg cubes since they arrived in this place, and back home he had made a name for himself on the rim, hunting rebel ships, single handedly destroying a Mon Cal cruiser that had tried to ambush them. He was vicious and single minded, with a penchant for flashy strategies that more often than not worked spectacularly.

“We have the Federation ship bracketed.”

“Bring down his shields and hit him with the ion cannons.”

“Aye sir.”

The Federation ship pirouetted gracefully over the Adjudicator, firing her weapons in a continuous mode and doing nothing against the Adjudicator’s shields. The impotent display would have taken the heart out of any Imperial crew yet these Federation ships did not seem to falter in the face of defeat.

“They are impressive in their courage and grace.” Mara said quietly.

Tarsi sneered.

“Courage and grace do not win victories, Ms. Jade. Power does.”

With those words a volley of turbolasers struck the Federation ship. The shield bubble flashed an angry red for a brief moment then failed. A stream of white ion blasts cascaded over the ship, tendrils of electricity jumped around from nacelle to hull and the Federation ship seemed to darken, its movement slowed.

“The ship has been disabled sir.”

“Bring her in close with the tractors, get the assault ship ready, and inform the troopers that I want that ship intact.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“The other two ships?”

“Relay their positions to the Executioner, bring her into this fight.”

“Aye captain.”

“Ms. Jade, the assault ship leaves momentarily.” He reminded her. Mara nodded and stalked off the bridge.






“What happened?” Captain Ochoa demanded as he waved some of the smoke that choked his bridge out of his face. His helmsman was futilely working his controls and he slapped them in frustration.

“I have negative helm control, even the manual systems are out.”

“Science?” Ochoa barked, afraid that one more volley would destroy his ship any second.

“It appears we have been struck by some form of pulsed ionized energy sir. I think it’s specifically designed to damage or disable control systems by overloading them. It’s going to take a few minutes to flush the systems and reboot the core.”

“Why would they disable us…” his question drifted off and he slapped his communicator on his chest.

“Security, I want cordons around vital areas of the ship, prepare to repel boarders!” He ordered sternly, never thinking that he would ever have to issue that order.

“Captain, engineering here, we have some serious problems with the warp core, with our safety systems fried by this ion charge, the core is running very hot, unless we can institute a shutdown in ten minutes we may have a breach.”

“Engineering, I may want that breach.” Ochoa replied darkly.

“Sir?”

“We have hostile boarders on the way, we may not be able to repel them. We cannot allow a Federation starship to fall into the hands of an enemy.”

“Understood sir.” The reply was stern but quiet.

Ochoa got out of his command chair and walked over to the science station.

“I’m going to want to initiate a self destruct.”

His science officer frowned as he tried something on his console.

“It’s doubtful we can initiate one right now sir, the main computer core is down, it cannot be accessed let alone do any recognitions. We are completely dead in the water.”

“How long for a hard reboot?”

“At least five minutes.”

“Do it!”

“Sir, security reports sighting a transport inbound, they’re heading for the shuttle bays!” His communications officer reported.

“Depressurize the shuttle bay and vent all oxygen into space, let’s not make things easy for them.” He replied and turned back to his science officer.

“Do whatever it takes, but I want a self destruct running as soon as possible.”

‘Aye sir.”

“Weapons?” he turned to his tactical officer.

“Sir, there’s nothing.” He pressed several buttons on his touch pad with no effect. “Besides, we didn’t even put a dent in their shields. According to my last reading on their shields, they were operating several orders of magnitude higher than our own shield ratings. These guys put Borg shields to shame sir.”

“Who in the hell are they?”

The ship rocked for a moment.

“Security reporting, we have boarders.”






Security personnel raced for the shuttle bay access doors and positioned themselves along the corridor, some hanging in open doorways for cover others kneeling or crouching at the end of the corridor, aiming their phaser rifles with grim purpose at the doorway.

Security chief Hanson frowned. This was not a good fighting position, but there was nothing else to do. Starships weren’t meant to be fought in and they relied on intruder control systems like containment fields and paralyzing gas. Unfortunately these systems were now out because of the enemy ion charge attack. He only hoped that their troopers weren’t as obviously advanced as their ships.

He shook his head as he felt the impact of the enemy troop transport against the outer door of the shuttle bay. Of course, that was all wishful thinking.

“Ok, boys, stay frosty. Remember shoot what you can see and make sure your enemy is down before moving on.” He called out to his men. Many shifted nervously as they heard the shuttle bay doors blasted open and the sound of heavy machines moving beyond.

Hanson looked up at the sounds, trying to decipher what they meant, what were they doing on the other side of the door. Unfortunately they were as blind as a bat and crippled.

Then he heard something against the door. His face hardened as he knew what was coming next.

“Here they come.” Someone muttered behind him.

The shuttlebay doors suddenly flared up as a storm of sparks raced along the outer edges of the door then they exploded outward. The security troops closest to the door were downed by flying shrapnel.
Angry crimson bolts exploded out as several white shapes burst through, heedless of security’s return fire. Hanson took aim and fired, his phaser bolt caught one of the white armored shaped right in the chest, lifting it off his feet and it flying backwards. He heard the screams of his men, as they were cut down by the enemy’s guns.

As the smoke cleared, he could clearly see that they were white armored humans, several of them were lying strewn across the floor at the shuttle bay doors but there were more coming, storming into the corridor, heedless of losses or enemy fire. They were like the Borg that way and Hanson hated the Borg.

Even the shots that missed, struck walls or ceiling and the resulting shrapnel from the blasts were slicing through his men like flechette rounds.

“Fall back to secondary defense point, Marquez, Swanson, lay down some suppressing fire!” He shouted.

Marquez nodded and began firing in a spread across the corridor, Swanson took a bolt to the face and his head disappeared in a cloud of blood and bone. Hanson watched some of his men begin to break and panic, the enemy troopers did not hesitate to surge forward and continued firing, some into the backs of his fleeing men. Hanson took several more carefully aimed shots and fell back.

The troopers followed like hungry wolves, always keeping the Starfleet security personnel in sight, always firing, once again, even missed shots proved deadly for his men as hot shrapnel cut through flesh and bone.

The security troops were starting to panic and Hanson was afraid that by the time they reached the second defense point they would not be in any condition to fight. Fortunately they made the sharp turn and most if the men stopped at their next position, many turning and firing a steady stream of phaser fire back at the corner. The first few white armored troops turned the corner and were felled by a hail of phaser fire, several got snap shots off, downing more of his men.

He noted grimly that more than half of his defensive force was down or dead. The enemy troopers stopped coming, and he heard their running steps halt, his grip on his phaser tightened. The sharp turn at this junction gave them a slight advantage in that the enemy had to make the turn blind, essentially giving his men a free shot at their attackers.

A small silver globe suddenly bounced down the corridor towards them. Hanson’s eyes widened and he started to shout a warning when the thermal detonator exploded. The concussion knocked the tightly wedged security troops down and the blast was immediately followed by enemy fire as the troopers raced around the corner. One in particular was fast and deadly, his fire was deadly accurate and three more of his men struggling to rise were cut down.

“This position is untenable, fall back to defense position three.” He shouted, trying to get a bead on the lead trooper that was causing so much carnage, moving amongst the other troopers like a pack leader. Position three was their last position before the boarders would gain access to the main turbolifts and the rest of the ship. Position three was known as Alamo position and he did not expect to be heading there within minutes of the boarding action. He cursed the lack of containment fields as he hauled one of his men up by his arm and shoved him down the corridor, firing blindly over his left shoulder as his men scrambled to get out of the corridor, and hopefully out of sight of the enemy fire.

Hanson knew as they rounded the next corner that this battle was lost, less than 15 men followed him out where he had led 40 to the shuttle bay. As they ran Hanson slapped his combadge as a blaster bolt missed his head by inches, exploding further down the corridor.

“Security to Bridge, we are being overwhelmed by boarders, some kind of storm troopers breaking through lines, advise engineering that they’ll have company very soon. Hanson out.”

The leading element of Stormtroopers eagerly followed the fleeing Starfleet security personnel, but the lead trooper held up a closed fist and the main body of troops halted obediently, many dancing on the balls of their feet like dogs ready to be let loose.

The lead stormtrooper removed her helmet. Mara Jade’s hair was plastered to her head with sweat and she was breathing heavily. She hated stormtrooper armor, particularly the helmet. Despite all the wonderful features, she felt like she was buried alive, and blind. Peripheral vision was shot to hell in this thing. Of course, in boarding actions, there was nothing like the protection the armor afforded so she suffered the discomfort because at least she wouldn’t suffer the fate that some of these Federation troops experienced. She noted with a detached interest the numerous shrapnel wounds inflicted on the bodies of the dead enemy security personnel. She dropped the helmet to the ground.

“The lead element will continue to hunt down the rest of the defenders. You all will follow me to the nerve centers of this vessel. Lord Nemesis wants prisoners so from here on set your weapons to stun. Lord Nemesis assures me any bridge officer killed in the boarding action will result in the offending trooper’s death as well as his squad mates. Are we clear?”

“Yes ma’am.” The troopers responded in unison, many diligently switching over to stun mode on their weapons.

“Squad Gamma, you go down and take Engineering, make sure that we stop any act of sabotage or self destruction. The rest of you follow me to the bridge.”

The troopers quickly split up and raced through the winding corridors, crewmen huddled in their quarters or stations, hearing a sound that they did not think they would ever hear, the march of invading troops in their corridors.






“Raise security, I want to know what’s going on.” Ochoa ordered over his shoulder then returned his attention back to the computer console where he was working with his science officer.

“How about a self destruct using this access way?” He asked.

“That isolinear system looks fried sir, we would have to actually get into the Jeffries tube here.” He pointed to a Jeffries tube several decks down. “And directly access the explosive controls from there.”

“Doors sealed sir.” One of his men reported as he finished fusing the turbolift doors together with his phaser.

“How long until the hard reboot is done?”

“Still need three more minutes. The ion charge was more powerful than anything we have encountered, even our hardened systems were overwhelmed. We’re lucky the core wasn’t completely fried.

“Sir, we have unauthorized access in the turbolift.” His tactical officer reported.

“Everyone, check your weapons.” Ochoa ordered. He stood away, knowing that trying to get to the Jeffries tube was near impossible at this point. The internal sensors were out but judging by reports trickling in, the enemy was everywhere.

“Engineering, Can you force a warp core breach? We need to destroy the ship ASAP.” He asked.

The sounds that came in on the communicator were a chaos of explosions and shouts of surprise and anger. The line went dead. Ochoa stood silent for a moment. Then he heard the sound of heavy equipment moving in the turbolift.

“Initiate a complete core dump. I want every scrap of data gone.”

His science officer frowned.

“Sir, with the core in hard reboot, we can’t do anything.”

Ochoa shook his head. Suddenly the turbolift doors exploded outward knocking him over the railing of his bridge. Several of the bridge officers fired into the gaping hole that remained of the turbolift. Three troopers leapt in and fired. White rings flashed by, whenever they struck a person, the target crumpled to the floor unconscious.

One of the troopers was struck by a phaser, knocking him back into the turbolift but more flooded in simply firing continuously, the stun bolts taking down the rest of his men. Ochoa stood up and stared at the enemy troops. They swiveled their blasters in his direction but he did not raise his weapon.

A woman leapt in followed by another phalanx of troops. She looked around the bridge and nodded to one of the lead troopers.

“Good work, commander. Secure this bridge and coordinate with hangar control to get technicians onboard as soon as possible. My men are telling me that their reactor core seems to be in some form of meltdown.”

“Yes ma'am.”

“This is an act of aggression against the United Federation of Planets. What is the meaning of this attack?!” Ochoa protested.

Mara slowly walked down into the lower level of the bridge. She examined the young captain with a critical eye. Ochoa returned the gaze steadily. He ignored the moans of some of his wounded men as the troopers roughly pulled them up and started to line them up along the far side of the bridge under the main viewer.

“Captain, you and your starship are now under the custody of the empire. We do not explain ourselves, we do not answer the questions of prisoners of the empire. We simply take what we wish. You will be a guest of Lord Darth Nemesis. He is most eager to meet you.” She smiled coldly.

Ochoa felt a cold grip around his heart. He found himself wondering if at least Kirk got away.







The Enterprise lurched to the starboard as the heavy flak increased.

“Sulu, can we initiate warp?”

“The energy cascades caused by these explosions are not allowing us to form a stable subspace warp shell. We need to get more distance.” Sulu answered, grimly evading another ripple of explosions.
“The Sagan is right behind us sir. Their scanners indicate that these flak bursts can destroy us both, the enemy is obviously trying to take us alive.” Uhura reported.

“The Thunderchild has been disabled sir. I’m picking up activity in the enemy warship, it looks like an assault transport is on the way to the Thunderchild.” Spock reported.

Kirk rubbed his chin.

“Spock, what is the status of the other warship?”

“They are still closing fast.”

“They’re going to squeeze us between them. We need a diversion to get us out of here.”

“It seems that they are inexperienced with subspace. Their mode of super light travel is very different from our own. My analysis of their combat scanning proves that we may be able to use that to our advantage.”

Kirk nodded.

“What are the chances that we can generate a subspace fold around the ship, making us disappear to normal scanning.”

“The effect will only last for a moment.” Spock cautioned.

Kirk smiled.

“I just need a second.” He activated his comboard. “Scotty, I’m going to need a quick subspace burst through the main deflector dish.”

“Captain, it may burn out the deflector, there won’t be time to properly calibrate.” Scotty replied.

“It’s either a blown out dish or a captured ship.”

“Aye sir.” Scotty replied.

“Uhura, send a tight beam transmission to the Sagan, tell them what we’re planning.”

“Aye sir.”

The Enterprise shook violently. Some lights around the bridge dimmed.

“Mr. Sulu, those last few bursts were awfully close.” Kirk commented dryly. Sulu turned a weak smile on his face.

“Sorry sir but that ship out there seems to be covered in guns.”

“Captain, the Sagan respectfully suggests that they have a more powerful emitter and they should fire off the burst.” Uhura reported.

“Tell them we need one now.”

“Aye sir.”

“Space distortion ahead. Possible enemy emerging from unknown dimensional interface.” Spock warned.

“Sulu, full evasive, standby emergency warp.”

“Aye sir!” Sulu barely replied as he sent the Enterprise diving away from the Executioner which jumped out of hyperspace almost on top of them. It fired a series of heavy flak bursts, white ion blasts hungrily hunting for the Enterprise and the Sagan.

“Sagan firing the burst in three..two..one!” Spock reported.

“Sulu, emergency warp, opposite direction from current trajectory now!”

Sulu complied as the Sagan’s main dish flashed and sent out a powerful subspace shockwave. Normal starships would have picked up the shockwave and sensors would have automatically adjusted to the sudden shift in the subspace field. The Imperial sensor nets, still new to the variables of subspace suddenly lost track of the two tiny ships. The sensors automatically recalibrated, searching along new frequencies, but the Enterprise and Sagan were for all intents and purposes, invisible.

The two ships quickly slipped away form the Executioner’s flak bursts, the mighty Stardestroyer began firing along the Enterprise’s last known trajectory.

“We are out from under the flak bursts, subspace fields stabilizing.”

“The Thunderchild?” Kirk asked pointedly.

“Captured by the enemy, I’m picking up boarding parties all through ship.”

“Get us out of here, maximum warp to the closest starbase.” Kirk ordered stonily, staring at the enemy fleet on his screen. He swore that he would avenge this attack. Whether he was out of time or not, this was his Federation and he would be damned if he would let an enemy take what was he had sworn an oath to defend and protect.

“Sagan is following us sir.”

Kirk sat back and sighed deeply. Things were not going to be easy any time soon. His thoughts turned to Captain Ochoa and his crew. He wondered darkly what the enemy had planned for them. Of course, the greater question was, what did the enemy plan for the Federation?







“Now this is something new.” Jason Archer commented. The Defiant had slowly approached a strange energy signature that had popped up on their sensors. They were currently 50 light years into Borg space. A record for a Federation starship, save for the Voyager.

“I believe that I was correct. That is a transwarp hub.” Seven of Nine stated coolly as she stared at the great gateway that was glowing brightly in the deep void between worlds.

“But it’s unguarded…relatively speaking.” Archer replied noting the single cube standing watch at a distance from the hub.

“Recent subspace ripples, as well as excited quantum particles indicate an extremely high volume of traffic only a few hours ago. I would estimate hundreds of cubes passed through here less than 6 hours ago.” Janeway reported.

“Hundreds? Does that explain the lack of Borg activity in this sector?” Archer asked as the Defiant coasted to a stop several thousand kilometers away from the hub. His eyes kept drifting up to the small tactical display on the upper right hand portion of his screen. It indicated the status of the cloak and the current level of Borg scanning. If the scanning strength spiked red, the cloak was likely compromised. Currently the scanning strength was a low steady green. They had once or twice drifted into the danger yellow area during their journey.

“Most likely the Borg of this area were called into battle at short notice, giving little time to rotate ships and assets from other sectors. Make no mistake however, the Borg will rotate ships back into this sector shortly. No sector is left with less than 1200 functioning cubes, not counting tactical cubes and scout spheres.” Seven replied.

“But, unless I’m mistaken, we can use this hub to get us to sector 2856 in under two minutes.” Archer said with a twinkle in his eye.

“You can’t be serious.” Janeway interjected.

“One minute 37 seconds.” Seven replied.
“If we continue on in this manner, even with the transwarp upgrades you gave us, Captain Janeway, it will take us at least a week to get to the target area. We can cut our transit time to one minute 37 seconds.”

“Do you realize that if we attempt to activate the hub, the Borg will know that we’re here, they may even know that we’re coming.” Janeway protested.

Archer nodded.

“We gate in, take a quick scan of the area then bug out. The Borg won’t even know what hit them.” He answered with a boyish grin.

God, was Starfleet graduating these captains younger every year?

“That is a reckless plan.”

“Captain Archer has a point.” Seven interjected.

“Oh?” Janeway replied.

“If we continue on this course we will eventually be discovered. The density of Borg ships increases the deeper we enter Borg space. The odds of traversing the light years between here and the target area without discovery are slim to none.”

“Why Seven, that was a colloquialism wasn’t it?” Janeway replied with a shadow of a smile.

“I adapt quickly to my environment.” She replied with a shrug. Archer quickly glanced between Seven and Janeway. Whatever had been between them at the start of the mission seemed to be resolved. That made him happy. He did not relish getting caught in any crossfire on his bridge. Bad enough he had to worry about the Borg.

“Captain, if you don’t mind, I think we’re going to do it my way.” He turned in his command chair and looked expectantly at Janeway. She frowned slightly, knowing that he had left the door open for her to step in and countermand him. She did not relish doing that to any captain, but it was her life he was risking on a plan that she did not have a lot of faith in. But then again she had sponsored plans that were just as risky. Who was she to step in on this captain’s plan?

“Let’s hope that we remain as lucky as we have, Captain Archer.”

He smiled. There was relief in his smile as well.

“Helm, plot a course, take us in at full impulse, Seven please take the navigations station and standby on the transwarp controls.”

“Understood.” Seven nodded and took her place as the Defiant leapt forward, racing to the transwarp hub.

Janeway prepared the sensors for a quick scan and processing, she thought that they would only have a few seconds before they had to retreat. The hub loomed ahead and the Cube suddenly slowed and rotated in their direction. The tactical display above suddenly blinked and the sensor strength readout rose steadily, quickly going into yellow and rising.

“Captain, Borg scanning increasing, they are in search mode.” His tactical officer warned.

“Seven, standby on my mark.” Archer ordered, leaning forward, willing his ship to fly faster.

The tactical display suddenly went to red and the Cube loomed in the left half of the screen, the hub was directly ahead.

“We’ve been spiked! Borg scanners in tracking mode….reading weapons arming.” The tactical officer announced.

“Now Seven!”

Seven activated the transwarp hub controls and the hub opened like a storm of light. The Defiant raced into the open hub and passed into a transwarp conduit.

“Whoa!” Archer exclaimed as the Defiant bucked beneath him like a wild animal. “What was that?”

“The cloak is dropping, we have fluctuations across all power systems!” Janeway reported.

“Seven?”

“I am attempting to ascertain what is wrong. The conduit is stable, the transwarp hub itself was in working order.” She answered running down the options, her hands a flurry of action on her console but never once did she look panicked or afraid.

Archer was nearly flung out of his chair as the Defiant almost seemed to do a barrel roll, at least it felt that way in his gut. He held on to the armrests of his command chair for dear life.

“Status?”

“The cloak is down, we have a dangerous build up of chronaton particles in the starboard nacelle, plasma venting in port side nacelle. Power grid is fluctuating!” Janeway shouted over the din of alarms and shouts.

“Seven, what is going on?”

“I believe the answer is about to pass us.” She answered coolly.

Archer looked up on the screen and suddenly four tactical cubes roared by like hawks. They did not slow down, merely continued on and disappeared as quickly as they came. The Defiant slowly leveled out and alarms quickly died down.

“What was that?”

“The Borg cubes’ passage through the conduit coincided with ours. The subspace turbulence was almost enough to destroy us. If they had passed a hundred meters closer we would have been vaporized.” Seven replied.

“All systems returning to normal, save the cloak. Engineering is investigating.” Janeway added.

“Where were those cubes going, and why didn’t they stop to kill us?” Archer asked.

“We were probably not considered a threat to them.” Janeway answered.

Seven glanced down at her board.

“We will emerge from the conduit in 25 seconds.”

“Standby on all systems, I want to be able to get out of here at a second’s notice.”

“Emergency warp power on standby.” The helmsman responded.

“I’ll try to get us as much data as possible.” Janeway said and stood over the sensor display, ready to work it as quickly as she could. They may only have seconds.

Archer took a deep breath and waited patiently. Now was the time. It had all led up to this.

“Emerging from transwarp conduit now.” Seven reported emotionlessly and the screen winked as they exited the white storm of light into normal space.

Archer’s face fell and Janeway blanched. Seven looked up quietly and remained impassive. A great shadow fell over the Defiant.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Archer muttered.

Thousands of cubes were floating serenely in the space that they had just exited from. The uncloaked Defiant sailed past a hundred tactical cubes clustered together. Soon they were in the center of an armada of cubes and spheres.

[Captain Cyran]

Seems just as good as the rest of the chapters.

[Cpt_Frank]

You keep up a very high standard of writing. This is gonna become a true classic. Kepp the good work going!

[Mr Bean]

Intresting so far

Even if it does fall into the Classic Borg adapt to everything Fallacy

But good writting and nice intragration of Section 31

[Cpt_Frank]

Well it makes things a bit fairer, if someone wrote a fanfic about how the Imperial conquest of the milky way would go with the real numbers, that would be pretty boring.

[Stravo]

Intresting so far

Even if it does fall into the Classic Borg adapt to everything Fallacy

But good writting and nice intragration of Section 31

As Cpt Frank stated I can't just write a fanfic that has the empire blowing up everyone with one shot and shrugging off everything thrown at them because there would be no drama and tension. This way I give the empire a decided advantage but the Mikly Way's dreaded ubervillains are still a threat and a grwoing one as we go further into the story because now they have had a taste of IMperial technology and they are going to WANT it very badly.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying it, I'm having a blast writing it as I explore a whole bunch of scenarios I've always wanted to see on screen.

[Faram]

Nice going I love this fanfic

[Master of Ossus]

There. Can you feel the difference between that chapter and the last chapter? Sometimes, even if you don't spend your time thinking about writing, it helps to take a little while off. When I REALLY get stuck writing something, I tell myself not even to think about writing for the next day or two, and then I feel better when coming back. That last chapter was one of the best you've written. Keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. This is a GREAT piece of fanfic, thus far.

[Stravo]

There. Can you feel the difference between that chapter and the last chapter? Sometimes, even if you don't spend your time thinking about writing, it helps to take a little while off. When I REALLY get stuck writing something, I tell myself not even to think about writing for the next day or two, and then I feel better when coming back. That last chapter was one of the best you've written. Keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. This is a GREAT piece of fanfic, thus far.

You are ABSOLUTELY right. There was a big difference and the difference was that I did not think too hard, I just let it flow...god this sounds like using the force. But the moment I finished typing I had to smile to myself because I just knew that I was back on track. Thanks Master of Ossus...your advice has borne some very nice fruit wouldn't you say?

[Master of Ossus]

There. Can you feel the difference between that chapter and the last chapter? Sometimes, even if you don't spend your time thinking about writing, it helps to take a little while off. When I REALLY get stuck writing something, I tell myself not even to think about writing for the next day or two, and then I feel better when coming back. That last chapter was one of the best you've written. Keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. This is a GREAT piece of fanfic, thus far.

You are ABSOLUTELY right. There was a big difference and the difference was that I did not think too hard, I just let it flow...god this sounds like using the force. But the moment I finished typing I had to smile to myself because I just knew that I was back on track. Thanks Master of Ossus...your advice has borne some very nice fruit wouldn't you say?

Don't mention it, Stravo.

[Master of Ossus]

Believe me, it's my pleasure to help talented new writers. Thanks for the great read!

(Sorry to everyone about upping my post count like this. I wanted to add something like this to the last one, but I hit the submit button before I thought about it. If there's a mod here, you can combine the two posts, if you want).

[Skelron]

Aye I think the story keeps on getting better, the tension with the borg is a nice touch... I like how with the need for a little tension in the story you have had a slower adaption rate. (It's almsot like a nod saying, yes I don't believe in the always adapt but the story needs a threat to Empire so heres my compromise it took a long time to adapt... a very costly long time) so thats it really, as mentioned this is quickly on the road to becoming a classic!

[Crown]

More! I want more!

[Beowulf]

Want more now!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................

[Cpt_Frank]

Cpt_Frank and SSD Intimidator want more!

[Crown]

Stravo could we at least get an ETA on this thing?

[Stravo]

Stravo could we at least get an ETA on this thing?

Nag, Nag, Nag

Chapter 6 is well on its way to being finished, lets say by Thursday it should be up. This ain't as easy as it looks fellas, but the rewards are more than worth the effort. I want to thank Master of Ossus for his support throughout the endeavor, and the rest of you guys for the comments and interest. I only hope that I can continue to entertain you with this story.

Your Humble story teller....

[Stravo]

OK OK....thank the office for being EXTREMELY slow today giving me quite alot of free time to finish this chapter up far ahead of schedule....I'm sure most of you won't complain.....Chapter 6 is here.....


Chapter 6: The Best Laid Plans



The Emperor’s Will plowed through a cloud of ever-expanding fire and debris as another wing of Romulan warbirds disappeared under the withering fire of the fleet’s turbolasers. The Emperor’s Will’s escorts were leading the charge, mercilessly ripping through the Romulan fleet’s defensive lines. There were no strategic or tactical niceties. This was raw firepower applied against an inferior defensive force.

Kittaine watched the dance of death outside his view port with the interest that a doctor gives his a patient. He noticed one of the massive warbirds drifting to port, power systems destroyed and one of the nacelles reduced to glowing slag.

“Have recovery teams launched to that warbird. I want some functioning models of their cloaking devices.” Kittaine ordered. Branna nodded and quickly relayed the order.

“Seven more warbirds have decloaked to the extreme right flank. They’re concentrating their fire on the Relentless.” Branna reported.

“Ignore them, keep pushing for their home world.” Kittaine ordered. He paused for a moment. “Have our sensors been calibrated yet to pierce their cloaks? It is becoming tiresome to keep having these ships appear in our lines.”

“We’re having trouble compensating for the subspace portion of their cloak, but we have started to detect them partially through simple grav shadow analysis.” Branna responded.

Kittaine nodded as another warbird erupted far off to the port side. His fleet was moving as quickly as it could, bulling its way to the world that was slowly looming ahead.

“Admiral. It is time for a demonstration of our power.” Nemesis spoke for the first time since the engagement began. The entire campaign, if this several hour attack could be called such was Nemesis’ idea. The fleet had emerged from hyperspace near a militarized portion of the Federation border. While Nemesis dispatched two stardestroyers to capture Federation ships and prisoners their sensors had picked up another empire operating on the other side of the border.

Nemesis had watched an analysis of the communications they had intercepted as well as tactical data. They called themselves Romulans. Nemesis, with that odd intuition of his stated quite firmly that they were ripe for conquest. The destruction of the fleet and occupation of their space would provide the Imperial fleet with a base of operations and raw materials to supply their needs.

Kittaine could find nothing wrong with the desire to create a base of operations. Frankly, he was growing concerned that the fleet would remain baseless, drifting through this galaxy like ghosts searching for the way home. But to steal away an entire empire’s resources seemed a bit…ambitious. They were a powerful fleet, of that there was no doubt. Nearly an entire sector fleet devoted to the destruction of the Ssi Ruuvi. But to attack and hold the amount of space that Nemesis was proposing troubled him. They had an overwhelming advantage in firepower and defensive equipment. But they did not have the raw numbers to hold much of anything. A few worlds perhaps, and if there was a concerted resistance, how long then?

Of course there was also the unspoken thought that perhaps by establishing bases, a mini-empire, that hope of returning home was lost.

“Your orders, Lord Nemesis?” Kittaine asked.

Nemesis eyed Kittaine for a moment, and a chill passed down his spine. The man may have heard his thoughts, they were not treasonous, but then again, Kittaine knew nothing of this Sith Lord. He may kill just for the thrill.

“Prepare to fire the superlaser.”

“Lord?” Branna stammered, turning his head sharply to look at Nemesis.

“Target the Romulan home world of Romulas, leave Remus alone. If I recall correctly, Remus has the resources?”

“Correct, my Lord. There seems to be heavy mining throughout the planet, our probe droids are reporting Tibanna gas in many of those mines.”

“Excellent.” Nemesis replied with a nod.

Kittaine nodded to Branna.

Branna hesitantly turned to the weapons officers.

“Reveal the Iris.” He shouted down to the pit.

“Aye captain.”

“Target the largest metropolitan area, maximum population density.” Nemesis ordered. His voice had dropped slightly as he spoke. Kittaine did not look back. It was almost as if the Sith lord had not wanted to say that. Almost.

“That would be on the night side of the planet, my lord. We will need a few more minutes to maneuver into firing position.”

“Excellent. Admiral?”

“My Lord?”

“Order all fighters and bombers recovered. As soon as the last of our wings is back in the hangars, order all ships to cease firing as we move into firing position.”

“My Lord?”

“Let the Romulans fire on us at will, Admiral.” He ordered tersely. Kittaine blinked several times. It went against all his instincts as an Imperial officer to allow an enemy to fire on his fleet.

“All will be revealed to you in time, Admiral. Until then I demand absolute obedience.” Kittaine felt phantom fingers brush against his throat and ice formed in his belly.

“Of course, my Lord.” Kittaine turned on his heel and walked over to Branna who was busy overseeing the deployment of the superlaser.

“Recover all wings.”

“Admiral?”

“Captain, I want all wings back in their hangars as soon as possible.” Kittaine

“Of course, Admiral.” Branna replied and nodded to his squadron commander. Kittaine watched the battle again. Slowly the fighters began to breakaway. Many of them had spent the last few hours jinking and weaving through the green hulled giants that were the Romulan warbirds. Their fire constantly peppered the capital ships and many fighters formed wedges, protecting the tight Tie Bomber formations that were scoring impressive victories, many taking down these ships in a single pass.

Now the fighters were peeling away in a uniform retreat back to the base ships. The Bombers first, many electing to fire one last wave of torpedoes before winging it back to their respective ships. He smiled softly. His men never ceased to amaze him. They did their best to damage the enemy even in retreat. That is why we’ll win. He thought to himself.

“Recovering fighters and bombers, superlaser has been unveiled. Reactor cores are charging the emitter.” Branna reported.

The nose of the Emperor’s Will slowly opened, armored portions sliding back into the hull revealing a flat iris, with several smaller emitters forming a perfect circle around the central iris. The smaller emitters swiveled around three times in a pre-firing systems check before locking into firing position.
The fleet continued forward, slowly turning as the Emperor’s Will slid into firing position, facing the night side of Romulas. More warbirds were decloaking, some obviously just coming out of warp. Orbital defensive batteries that had remained silent until now opened fire. Hundreds of plasma torpedoes suddenly flashed over to the fleet, splashing in whitish green explosions on the fleet’s shields.

“All ships recovered. Sir, intensity of enemy fire has increased significantly.” Branna warned.

“We have our orders.” Kittaine replied frostily and watched as his fleet continued onward, explosions beginning to increase in number and intensity as dozens of warbirds started to slash their way towards the Emperor’s Will.

“It did not take them long to take advantage of the lack of fire.” Branna muttered as the warbirds began attacking the Emperor’s Will en masse.

“Time until we are in firing position?” Nemesis asked.

“Four minutes and we will be in optimal range.”

“Good.”

“Lord Nemesis, the bulk of their warbirds are now ignoring the rest of the fleet and concentrating all fire on us.” Kittaine commented hoping that perhaps he could sway the dark lord.

Nemesis smiled in cold satisfaction.

“So much the better, Admiral. So much the better.”

Kittaine turned back to look out the view port. The Emperor’s Will was literally bathed in green fire. Dozens of Warbirds were flanking her hungrily, firing continuously into her shield grid.

“Main energizers near capacity.” The tactical officer reported.

“Superlaser is now fully charged.” Branna relayed to Kittaine.

“We will be in primary firing position in two minutes.” Navigation reported.

“Admiral, when we achieve primary firing position, hold your fire until my order.” Nemesis said coldly and continued staring out the port over Kittaine’s shoulder.

“What is our shield status?” Kittaine quietly asked Branna.

“Holding, but there is an awful lot of energy getting poured into the grid.” Branna answered.

The bridge was silent as they continued on towards Romulas’ night side. The warbirds now ignored the fleet and simply swarmed the Emperor’s Will. The great flagship slowly rotated and faced the planet.

“We are in primary firing position.”

“Hold, Admiral.”

Kittaine held his breath as the orbital platforms started concentrating their fire on the Emperor’s Will as well. It seemed to him that the entire Romulan defense network was firing on them as one.

Nemesis remained silent, watching the pyrotechnic display outside with a cold gaze.

Another minute went by and Kittaine briefly considered suggesting at least some counter fire. He remembered Darlin’s shattered body and decided against it. Branna was far less calm about it, he kept pacing over to the tactical station and checking the shield status.

Another minute and Nemesis finally spoke.

“You may fire when ready, Admiral.”

Kittaine turned to Branna.

“Lock the superlaser on target and fire.”

“Aye sir.”

“Commence primary ignition.” The tactical officer stated and displays lit up all along the weapons pit. The nose of the Emperor’s Will began to glow as power flowed to the iris and the attendant smaller emitters. The Romulan fire seemed to intensify as they sensors picked up the enormous energy spike.

Nemesis stared hard at the screen, as if willing something to happen. Kittaine and Branna both leaned forward slightly, ready for anything.

The blast from the Emperor’s Will erupted forth in a green beam of raw destructive power. It lanced into the planet. On the night side of Romulas, for the largest city on the planet, night became day. The green superlaser burned through the air, literally igniting it with its passage and struck the earth with the sound of Armageddon. Instantly, the city was vaporized, millions died before they could utter a sound. The blast continued on unopposed into the planet’s crust, thrusting through the rocky outer layer of the planet and exposing the molten mantle beneath. Huge geysers of molten rock spewed forth into the atmosphere. The blast shockwave began rippling along the surface like a monstrous thing, completely obliterating all in its path, cities, mountain ranges, even oceans boiled away at its passage. Several hundred million instantly died with the shockwave, many more would perish as the resulting earthquakes and fires damaged vital matter/antimatter reactors, causing a chain reaction of core breeches throughout the planet. White flashes of core breaches slowly appeared, circling the night side like a string of pearls.

Kittaine stared in awe. Branna looked down at a readout.

“Admiral, the superlaser discharged the full effect, no deviation from simulated results. The weapon has preformed precisely to expectations.”

“Can you feel it now, admiral?” Nemesis asked quietly as he suddenly appeared standing right behind them. “Can you feel the fear swelling in them now? They have fired on us with all of their weapons, every defensive system, all their warships for over five minutes without us firing a single shot and it accomplished nothing.” He smiled coldly as realization slowly dawned on Kittaine’s face. “They are now faced with the awful certainty that they can do nothing against us. I will offer them an alternative.” Nemesis strode past them and stalked over to the communications section.

“I want a transmission broadcast to all the Romulan ships, beam my image to the surface of Romulas and Remus.”

“Aye My lord.”

Nemesis wrapped his cape around his shoulder and stared intently at the holoimager. It suddenly lit up.

“Transmitting My Lord.”

“People of the Romulan Star Empire. I am Darth Nemesis, leader of the advance forces of the Galactic Empire. You have seen a small demonstration of our power. As I speak, we are transmitting to the rest of your empire a full playback of the battle to control the space above your home world. It will clearly show that your defense forces fought a valiant but useless battle to stop us. The end result is the destruction of a major continent or your planet Romulas. I am prepared to offer a truce between our empires. The Romulan Star Empire will be allowed to survive as a client state of the Galactic Empire and her emperor. You will surrender your arms and your fleets will now belong to us to do with as we wish. If the Romulan Star Empire does not accede to this demand, then I will fire the superlaser again, and this time Romulas will be nothing but rubble and I will not stop until Remus is laid waste then I will continue on outward, eradicating every world that harbors your people. I will sterilize this space of your kind and in the end there will not be a single monument, placard or even ruins to say that you ever existed at all. Your space will be filled with the rubble of your dead worlds and the shattered hulls of your ineffectual warships. No cloaking device can save you now. You either bow to the will of the empire, or be exterminated like vermin. Make no mistake, there will be no second chances, I will not make this offer again. Once I start the great slaughter it will not be stopped. This is your sole chance at life. You have precisely 5 of your minutes to comply.” Nemesis nodded and the holoimager shut off.

“Lord, it will take longer than five minutes to recharge the superlaser, and it will certainly not shatter their world in the next shot, it will take many shots to imitate the true effects of the Death Star superlaser.” Kittaine warned.

Nemesis smiled.

“Admiral. I know fear. Fear and I are intimate allies. Fear attracts the weak and the powerful. We will use fear throughout this campaign to win a new empire for our emperor and to get our brave fleet back home.” Nemesis answered.

Branna was watching the destruction of the Romulan planet’s major continent. Slowly, great cracks marked with crimson molten rock were spreading along the continental shelf, large portions of the center, the initial impact site of the superlaser was breaking open like the opening of a rose blossom. Enormous chunks of the crust were sinking into the molten mantle until several hundred square kilometers of crust disappeared leaving what looked like an angry red eye staring back at him.

“It is beautiful.” Branna whispered.

“Careful Captain. We are Imperial officers, this is a duty not a pleasure.” Kittaine responded coolly. Branna glanced back at his Admiral and nodded.

“Of course, Admiral.” Branna replied respectfully. He noted the celebrations amongst the weapons crews, they had successfully fired the first ship mounted superlaser. He could imagine what it would mean for the empire once they had one on every command ship. No world would be safe, none could hide from the New Order.

“We have seen the dawn of the end of the rebellion.” Branna said emphatically.

“Once we are home and the rebels lay down their arms, I will agree with you my friend, but for now, let us focus on the task at hand. How long until Lord Nemesis’ ultimatum runs out?” Kittaine replied, watching the warbirds slowly circling them. They had stopped firing the moment Nemesis began speaking.

“Two minutes.”

“Are you picking up communication?” Nemesis asked.

“Yes, my lord, there are hundreds of tight beamed transmissions between the ships and the planet. There are also furious transmissions between the central command and the various political centers that remain functioning.”

Nemesis nodded.

“Prepare to launch fighters and bombers. Make sure the bombers are all reloaded before sending them out.” Kittaine ordered as he prepared to assume the worst.

“That will not be necessary, Admiral. Unless I am sorely mistaken, we will receive the answer that we are looking for very shortly.” Nemesis interjected. Kittaine nodded hesitantly.

“Captain Tarsi is going to kill us when he finds out we have been engaged in a battle of this magnitude without him, particularly that he was not here for the firing of the superlaser.” Branna commented with a wry smile.

Kittaine smiled softly in return.

“Captain Tarsi will be most displeased indeed.”

Time passed swiftly.

“The ultimatum runs out in 5 seconds.”

“My lord?” Kittaine asked.

Nemesis raised a hand in a waiting gesture.

“We are receiving a transmission from the Romulan flagship.”

“Put it through.”

“This is Admiral T’vor of the Romulan Defensive Fleet. We are complying with your demand, Lord Nemesis. The Romulan fleet is standing down, defensive batteries are shutting down. We await your word.” The voice was cold and there was real anger brewing beneath the surface. Nemesis smiled.

“They are not happy.” Branna noted with a smug smile.

“They are a practical people. They know when they are beaten and they are survivors. They will do anything to survive, even surrender.”

“Cowards.” Branna replied bitterly.

“Don’t be so sure, my friend. They have lost millions of lives in a matter of moments and they are impotent against us. It was a reasonable conclusion to accept life under Imperial rule than oblivion.” Kittaine replied softly. Nemesis’ eyes narrowed on the Admiral, but Kittaine did not notice because his back was to him.

“Admiral, I will leave the logistics to you. Start immediate landing, we need to let these people know immediately that we are in control. Begin calling in Romulan ships from all corners of their empire, I want no ships functioning independently away from us. Once we have a firm logistics train established we will prepare to extract the information we need from the Federation.”

“Of course, my lord.”

“And Admiral, bring me all data files from their military, I want to see all their secrets and what they know. Perhaps they have things to offer us that we are unaware of. You have free reign to do what you need to restore order.”

“Anything my lord?” Kittaine asked pointedly.

“I will ask no questions, just restore order that is my only commandment.”

“Of course my lord. It shall be done.”

“Lord Nemesis, Captain Tarsi is signaling that he has secured a Federation starship as well as its crew. He is ready to jump to our coordinates.” Branna reported with satisfaction.

Nemesis nodded.

“Inform Captain Tarsi that he is to proceed here immediately. I want to personally attend to the interrogations.”

“Yes my lord.”

Nemesis stalked off the bridge, his long black cape flowing behind him like the wings of some dark creature. Branna sighed softly as he imagined what awaited the miserable bastard that fell into Nemesis’ hands. He smiled coldly for a moment as a thought occurred to him.

“Let me speak directly to Captain Tarsi.”

“Aye Captain.” The tech handed him a headset.

“Tarsi, it’s Branna, was it a tough battle against the Federation ship?” He listened and nodded. “I see, no challenge at all….mmm..rebel freighters have given you more trouble? Mmmm…I thought you might like to know that we have just conquered one of the empires bordering the Federation border….it was glorious, hours of intense mortal combat against hundreds of ships…” Branna suppressed the laugh as Tarsi’s outraged voice drifted over the headphone. “And we test fired the superlaser on their home world.”
Tarsi’s outrage became a shout of anger and the line went dead. Branna’s face became calm and professional again as he handed the tech back the headphones.

As Branna turned Kittaine was standing right behind him.

“Are you quite finished, Captain?”

“Of course, sir. I was just endeavoring to keep our fleet elements appraised of our status.” Branna replied with a straightface, looking straight ahead at attention.

“I’m sure you were, but I would be careful if I were you, Captain. Captain Tarsi is not one to be toyed with. He once had to chase a rebel ship through five star systems and an asteroid field before finally capturing the ship. What he did to the rebel crew has gone done in the legends of Imperial interrogators for years afterwards. Don’t toy with the Gundark or you will get the fangs.” Kittaine replied just as straight faced.

Branna nodded.

“Begin landing operations immediately and I want you to see to the occupation personally captain.”

“Yes Admiral.” Branna replied and stepped away.

Kittaine watched him leave and could not help but smile. Tarsi was going to skin Branna alive if he caught him. Funny that, even in this dark, forsaken place far from home and order, they could still find time to smile. Behind Kittaine, the great angry red eye in the center of Romulas glared at them all in accusation.







Picard stood in the C&C of the Shadow fleet and watched in awe as massive holographic displays lit up all around him. There was a full representation of Federation space. The level of detail was on a planetary scale, small holographic representations of Starships blinked constantly with tactical data superimposed over each one.

“How in the world did you get all of this information. I doubt that even Starfleet command has this level of detail on ship deployment.”

“We have our ways, Picard. Let’s just say that every time your ships go in for repairs, refits. shore leaves, we tend to find a way to leave a little reminder on the ship, a low level transmitter that periodically transmits data in bursts to our relay stations throughout Federation space.” He ignored the look of horror on Picard’s face as he continued. “We use that data to create this real time representation of Federation space and starship deployments. This star chart is vital to the shadow fleet, since we can tell if a starship is in trouble, whether a system has necessary defensive resources should an invasion occur, etc. It also allows us to move through Federation space undetected because we know where everyone else is.”

“The star chart was first instituted 15 years ago, after several unfortunate incidents where our secret deployments were nearly uncovered by other Federation starships. The chart proved invaluable during the first Borg incursion as we were able to relay Borg positions through back channels.” R-7 added helpfully. Picard eyed R-7 with a mix of regret and anger. He represented precisely what Picard had been afraid of regarding Data all these years. Yet he reminded him so much of his erstwhile officer.

“I tell you Picard. It was a tragedy to watch the Battle of Wolf 359 on this chart. I watched as dozens of starships slowly winked out of existence on this board and we could do nothing about it. We were deploying then, hundreds of our starships were en route to Earth but we were still too far. We would have arrived an hour after assimilation began. Imagine my surprise when the Borg cube simply blew itself straight to hell.” Durant commented. Picard remained silent but he did frown slightly. Couldn’t the man pronounce his name correctly? Everyone else said it correctly, including R-7 but he insisted on pronouncing it Pikerd.

“The Borg have been our staunchest enemies since then, Picard. But there was little we could do to stop them. Best we could do was destroy any cubes that incurred on our territory and we have been lucky that they only send a cube at a time.”

“The last incursion was a tactical cube that tried to come in on the opposite side of their usual invasion route four moths ago.” R-7 added.

“I hadn’t heard of this.” Picard challenged.

“That’s because we engaged them on the outskirts of Federation space, we lost a few ships in that engagement, and it was also the reason that spurred us on to acquire the secret technology that Janeway brought back with her.” Durant answered.

“Thus putting our entire timeline in jeopardy.” Picard countered.

Durant shrugged.

“As far as I can tell the universe is not coming to a sudden halt, Picard. These weapons are going to give us the edge we need. The armor technology is going to allow our ships to survive long enough to actually do some damage. Once we take down Unimatrix 001, the game is over. The Borg have only one major weakness, over centralization.”

“You think they’re just going to let us waltz into the Unimatrix? There are thousands of cubes there at any one time.”

“The Voyager survived attacks by several cubes long enough to destroy a transwarp hub. Our fleet will last long enough to deploy the Little Boy.”

“The Little boy?” Picard asked bewildered.

“A strategic weapon we’ve been toying with for some time. It’ll make sure that all that remains of Unimatrix 001 is scrap. We’ll bomb them into their component nanites, Picard. Aren’t you in the least bit interested in freeing the galaxy and the Federation of this evil? You have been the most vocal proponent of confronting the Borg wherever they appear. Your speech before the Federation council last year after the Borg incursion that reached Earth was inspiring.”

“I am not reluctant to destroy Borg, captain, I am reluctant that this secret fleet will be treading lightly where angels fear tread. I was a drone once” he nearly stumbled at this part. It always triggered a wave of shame and pain that he had not yet fully grappled with. He would be damned if he let some peacock like Durant notice it however and he pushed on. “I vividly remember the tactical data regarding the Unimatrix. We will be entering the most heavily defended space in the entire galaxy. It will make the last stand at Cardasia look like ensigns in formation. This is not some mission that we should regard with any sort of levity. Most likely, none of us would be returning.”

“We are prepared to make that sacrifice, Picard. We are all aware that at any time we will be called upon to give our lives for the Federation.”

“But not needlessly, Captain. Our lives are valuable to the Federation. This fleet has obviously done much good for the Federation despite its misguided notions that the Federation needs protecting that it itself cannot provide. Why throw it away on an attack that has very little chance of succeeding?”

Durant frowned and leaned on the star chart for a moment, as if debating something difficult. Adare was sitting behind him, feet up on a console and staring at Picard with a critical eye.

“Are you afraid, Captain?” Durant asked softly.

Picard felt his face flush. His hands gripped the edge of the star chart.

“You are a child, Captain Durant. A child playing with toy fleets. You have not seen or done a tenth of what I have. You have not seen the wonders I have seen or experienced the horrors. I have touched death enough times so that we are on a first name basis.” Picard spoke in a steely whisper, the anger thick in his voice. “I will tell you what I do see. I see a young captain eager to go into battle, eager to see blood. You think of the destruction of Unimatrix 001 as the be all and end all of your existence. These new weapons are not miraculous, they are powerful, yes. They are potent against our foes, but in the end the Borg ADAPT and they RESPOND and you will find yourself in a world of pain that all the bravado in the universe will not save you from. I merely wanted to share my wisdom that you obviously need so much. As Locutus of Borg I would tell you simply this…your actions would be futile, your new weapons irrelevant. The Collective does not fear, the Collective does not care about such trivial things as casualties or losses. They only care about assimilation, and your pretty little fleet out there becomes a very tempting target for assimilation. It is not fear that tells a warrior that his foe is superior.” Picard turned away and began to stride out of the C&C.

“Captain, wait, I want to apologize.” Durant called out after him and started to follow.

An alarm went off in the C&C.

“What’s going on?” Durant snapped and turned right back to the Star chart.

“We have an enemy incursion into Federation space, approximately one light year off the Romulan neutral zone. Sector 1075, the USS Thunderchild is reporting enemy ships threatening the science vessel Sagan and Enterprise.” R-7 reported dispassionately.

“Enterprise?” Picard stopped and slowly turned around.

Durant nodded to Picard who quickly fell in besides the young commander. He watched as the holographic representation of the Thunderchild, an Akira class starship, began blinking and the star chart fell away, so that the sector where the Thunderchild was located took up the entire holographic chart. The tactical data streaming over the Thunderchild changed suddenly as shields went up and weapons began to fire.

“What is that?” Durant asked in shock as an enormous warship shimmered into view.

“We are receiving telemetry from the Thunderchild’s sensors. This is a rough translation of what we are receiving.”

“You do realize that the computer has assigned that ship Ragnarok status?” Adare interjected softly. He was obviously disturbed by what he was looking at.

“What does that mean?” Picard asked.

“Each threat is given a certain status indicating level of threat to the Federation. Borg Cubes are assigned Omega status, the second highest threat, meaning that our fleet can handle it with heavy losses and the ship represents a dire threat to the Federation.” R-7 began.

“Ragnarok status was last used to tag the V’ger probe 70 years ago. Ragnarok means that this threat represents an end of the Federation level of threat.” Durant finished, his eyes suddenly hardening as he watched the Thunderchild’s telemetry suddenly flash and the ship remained motionless.

“They’ve been disabled.”

“They’re getting boarded!” Someone else reported with surprise.

“What about the Enterprise?” Picard pressed.

“The Enterprise and the Sagan managed to go to warp. However there is something odd about this Enterprise –“ R-7 was cut off by another tech behind him.

“The Thunderchild has been secured by the enemy ships, last sensor log indicates two warships, each one rated Ragnarok threat level.”

There was silence in the C&C for a long while as they watched the Thunderchild’s holographic representation slowly fade from view. Durant took a breath and turned to Picard.

“I’m going to need your help, Captain. The Federation needs you. It seems that the assault on Unimatrix 001 is going to have to take a backseat.”

“You’re going after this threat?” Picard asked pointedly.

“It’s what we’re here for Captain. Any of our other starships runs into this thing and they’ll be just as dead as the Thunderchild. Right now, the Shadow fleet is the only viable force that can oppose a threat ship like that with any hope of survival.” Durant replied and locked eyes with Picard.

“What say you, Captain?”

Silence in the C&C as everyone paused to look at the exchange. Picard looked over at the star chart and back to Durant.

“When do we leave, Captain?”








HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION FROM UNIMATRIX 001 TO TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP: 0:205:36

INITIAL FLEET DEPLOYMENT 89% COMPLETE. REMAINING FLEET ELEMENTS EXPECTED IN 9.2 HOURS. DEPLOYMENT OF STRATEGIC CUBES EXPECTED, WEAPONS LOADOUTS UNDER REVIEW. EXPECTED DECISION IN 2.3 HOURS. REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL REPAIR DRONES DENIED, CURRENT DEPLOYMENT OF 150,000,000 DRONES EXPECTED TO BE SUFFICIENT FOR INITIAL ENGAGEMENT.



HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION FROM TACTICAL FLEET TA900887 TO UNIMATRIX 001. TIMESTAMP: 0:206:12

ATTACHING REPORT FROM TACTICAL CUBE 5221K56: INTRUDER VESSEL DETECTED AT 02:00:02 HOURS STANDARD. INITIAL ANAYLSIS REVEALS: FEDERATION STARFLEET VESSEL, [FEDERATION IDENTITY MARKER NCC 75633 FEDERATION CLASS DESIGNATION: DEFIANT. WEAPONS LOADOUT: PULSE PHASER ARRAY, TWIN QUANTUM TORPEDOE LAUNCHERS, MAXIMUM YIELD PER SALVO: 200 MEGATONS. DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS: ABLATIVE ARMOR CLASS 7 , MULTIPHASIC SHIELD GRID OF CLASS 6 GENERATION CAPAPCITY.] THREAT ANALYSIS TO TACTICAL CUBE 5221K56: 1.0258% THREAT ANALYSIS TO TACTICAL FLEET: 0.0000% (THESE FIGURES ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT RADICAL PROBABILITY SHIFTS THAT OCCUR WITH REGULARITY WHEN ENGAGING STARFLEET VESSELS) OVERALL THREAT ANALYSIS: VESSEL’S PRESENCE IS IRRELEVANT, ANY ACTION WOULD BE A WASTE OF ENERGY AND RESOURCES. SCANNING LOCK WILL BE MAINTAINED, THE DEFIANT WILL BE MONITORED IN CASE FURTHER ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN. [SECURITY CROSS REFERENCE PROBABIBILTY THAT THIS VESSEL IS THE SAME VESSEL REPORTED BY CUBE 98H200096 OF USING TRANSWARP CONDUIT J-12: 98.77%]



HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION FROM UNIMATRIX 001 TO TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP 0:207:00

AGREE WITH TACTICAL CUBE 5221K56’S ANALYSIS. MAINTAIN TARGET AND SCANNING LOCK. DEFIANT REPRSENTS NO THREAT OR ADVANTAGE TO TACICAL FLEET. CURRENT MISSION PARAMETERS ARE: 1) ENGAGE IMPERIAL FORCES WHERE POSSIBLE, ATTEMPT TO BOARD AND ASSIMILATE ONE OF THEIR STARSHIPS. [CROSS REFERENCE NOTATION: PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO TRANSPORT DRONES ONTO IMPERIAL WARSHIPS HAVE PROVEN IMPOSSIBLE. SHIELD STRENGTH IS RATED CLASS 10, NO KNOWN FREQUENCY MODULATION IN SHIELDS SUGGEST A SHIELD GENERATION TECHNOLOGY THAT IS ADVANCED BEYOND MULTIPHASIC SHIELDS. COUNTERMEASURES BEING DEVISED.] CONTINUE BOARDING ACTION ATTEMPTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 2) ASSIMILATE CREWS TO DISCOVER LOCATION OF IMPERIAL HOME SYSTEM. [ASTROMETRICS CROSS REFERNCE FILE: EXTENSIVE SCANS OF SURROUNDING SYSTEMS AND DEEP PROBES HAVE REVEALED PROBABIBILTY OF IMPERIAL SHIPS ORIGINATING IN THIS GALAXY: 4.09%. ] [METALURGIC CROSS REFERENCE: EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HULL MATERIAL FROM WRECKAGE OF IMPERIAL SHIP INDICATES METALS AND POLYMERS NOT NORMALLY FOUND IN KNOWN STAR SYSTEMS. PROBABILITY THAT THE METAL ALLY COULD HAVE ORGINATED FROM THIS GALAXY: 1.25%] 3) EVENTUAL ASSAULT AND ASSIMILATION OF IMPERIAL HOME SYSTEM. PRODUCTION FACILITIES HAVE BEGUN IMMEDIATE CREATION OF NEW VESSELS. PRODUCTION INCREASE OF 300% WILL BE SUSTAINED UNTIL CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES.
ATTACHED DETAILED REPORT OF IMPERIAL FORCES TO DATE.

ALL OTHER PRIORITIES RESCINDED



HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION TO UNIMATRIX 001 FROM TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP 0:207:09

ORDERS TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED. TACTICAL FLEET TA900887 WILL COMPLY.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

[Master of Ossus]

I am so grateful that the office was slow, today, Stravo. This one is going to be a classic. Thank you for the great read.

[Crown]

Man how could you stop just before a Fed officer gets mind-rapped!? You are evil . Keep writting Stravo this is great stuff!!!!!!

[Stravo]

I am so grateful that the office was slow, today, Stravo. This one is going to be a classic. Thank you for the great read.

Quite frankly Master of Ossus, I wish this is what I did all the time. Office work is hardly what I envision myself doing with the rest of my life and writing has ALWAYS been my passion. I used to fill composition notebooks with short stroies. But as usual I neevr really showed them to anyone now I've graduated to this and I have to say the response has really been wonderful for me.

BTW I'm trying out my very first avatar, a sign of things to come in this story I assure you....IF it works.

[Cpt_Frank]

Excellent. Nuff said.