Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this fanfic up to date and consistent, time and energy on my part permitting.
"Chapter 1: Dark Omens"
Admiral Janeway sat dehind her desk, contemplating her data pad. Starfleet was still analysing the new technology brought back by Voyager, but there were many high ranking officials who were not happy at all with her decision to accept and employ the technology. The temporal directive was not there simply to be ignored on a whim, and she had knowingly violated it on more than one occassion.
A lengthy investigation had nearly gotten her a court martial, but public opinion had forced even those to admit a promotion would present a better image of Starfleet. So while the technology could easily be employed upon modern Federation starships, Federation politics was holding back the fleet from any potential upgrade.
Janeway intentionally moved from that train of thought, uncomfortable with the issues still going on about it. How she wished she was back in command again, where her decisions were rarely questioned! Despite being "promoted" to admiralty, the higher ups made sure she did little.
In fact, her most important act of late had been informing the Enterprise of the Romulan reform that had "apparently" taken place, which had lead to the incident with Shizon and his advanced prototype vessel.
My temporal violation being ignored sure would have come in handy there, though Janeway reproachfully. Her train of thought was interrupted by her door chime.
"Come in." Janeway said.
The doors slid open and Seven of Nine stepped through.
"Seven!" exclaimed Janeway, "Come in, come in! It's been too long!" as Janeway quickly got up and moved around her desk. "Has Starfleet finished debriefing you yet?"
The joke was old, but in reference to Starfleet's continued interest at picking at anything and everything Seven knew of the Borg. One time ago, a smart ass ensign had intentionally interpreted the comment in a different light, but Seven's resulting action had been to convince the ensign he was about to be assimilated. Frankly, Borg tubules being stuck in your neck would have convinced anybody.
"We have little time for pleasantries, Admiral." Seven quickly replied. "You must see this." Seven handed Janeway a data pad.
"What is it?" Janeway inquired quickly. When Seven acted worried, there was definitely something to worry about.
"These are Federation sensor sweeps from across Federation space." Seven said.
Janeway glanced through the information on the pad. "I see alot of sensor information, but what am I looking for?"
"Note the level of neutrino levels in all those sectors." Seven clarified.
Janeway once again reviewed the pad. "There are several dozen areas throughout Federation space with high concentrations of neutrino particles...Seven...does this mean what I think it does?" Now Janeway was worried.
"If you mean do these match neutrino emmsions from Borg transwarp conduits" Seven replied, "then yes."
"But we took out their transwarp hub four months ago!" Janeway protested.
Seven continued, "That's correct, but as you know the Borg were in possession of six of these hubs altogether. Further analysis on my part has indicated these are conduits being redirected by other hubs into Federation space."
Janeway paled. "This doesn't bode well, does it?"
"No." Seven replied, "Not at all. In fact, the Borg have never had the hubs redirect their conduits at this magnitude, since the process is quite energy intensive and time consuming. The last time the Borg made an effort in this direction was against Species 116."
"Wasn't that the race Arturis came from?" Janeway asked.
Arturis had made a close, but failed attempt to get the Borg to assimilate Voyager's crew by faking his ship as one sent from Starfleet. The Quantum Slipstream drive had promised them a way home, but was intented to journey them directed into the heart of Borg territory. Arturis made it clear he hated Voyager, and Janeway in particular, for allying with the Borg against Species 8472. The eventual retreat of Species 8472 had opened his race up to a large scale attack by the Borg.
Seven nodded. "Correct. The conduits were moved vastly shorter distances than the examples I have just given you, but the tactic is the same."
Janeway didn't want to believe this. This simply could not be happening. "Seven, Arturis's race was attacked by hundreds of cubes!"
Seven again nodded, and this time with what might have even be percieved as tinged with hopelessness. "Yes, Admiral. I have every reason the believe the Borg are going to assault the Federation with a large scale armada of Borg vessels. In all likelyhood, cubes."
The Borg Collective was regenerating. The war with Species 8472 had depleted thousands of vessels, hundreds of worlds and millions of Borg. Steps towards rebuilding their infrastructure had been taken shortly after the retreat of Species 8472. Previously ignored civilizations were conquered for their resources, low priority civilizations, including Species 116, had fallen under large scale assaults. New Tactical cubes, with incredibly dense armor, were constructed in preparation for any further Species 8472 incursion.
The process had been going quite well, until disaster struck. Voyager, a Federation vessel the Borg Queen had intervened on behalf of several times, destroyed the Borg Unicomplex and one of their Transwarp Hubs. The unpredictable feat was accomplished by a temporal incursion from another timeline, one that gave Voyager the tools to accomplish the goal. Trillions of Borg had perished, the Transwarp Hub's shields collapsed and disintegrated under Voyager's transphasic torpedoes. The damage was of a magnitude the Borg Collective had never known, even against Species 8472. With a single stroke, a single Federation vessel have inflicted significantly more damage then almost the entire Species 8472 war. The Federation was immediately designated the highest priority target. Species 5618 could no longer be allowed to persist as a threat. The regeneration continued, and the Collective prepared for it's assault.
Once Seven and Janeway informed Starfleet command, action was taken immediately. Federation ships were called immediately back to Earth. The current fleet consisted of almost one hundred ships so far, and the number continued to climb steadily. A meeting was called, involving the Federation President and some of the highest ranking officers in Starfleet that were available immediately.
Seated around the conference table were twenty two individuals, most of them representing the highest level of authority of the Federation.
Sitting at the head of the table, the President began. "Ladies, gentlemen. You've all seen the report submitted by Seven of Nine and Admiral Janeway."
Nods all around the table. Janeway shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The fact that Seven's name have been mentioned before her was not lost on her. The President had been one of the most vocal parties about her temporal directive violations.
"The evidence is irrefuteable, and explanation for said evidence cannot be doubted," continued the President, nodding at Seven. "Our best defenses barely slowed down a single Borg cube. We are now faced with a potential armada of them entering Federation space in the very near future. Communications have been sent to the Klingons, Romulans and every other power we can reasonably expect assistance from. We've even opened communications with the Dominion, but help from them at this time is not anticipated. The Klingons have responded generously. They are contributing almost five hundred warships to Earth's defense, which we have every reason to believe will be their primary target. We need every possible resource at our disposal to counter this threat, if it is at all possible."
At this point an Admiral Terry, a brilliant tactician recognized throughout the Federation, spoke up. "We've contacted Captain Picard, and he is heading towards Earth at best possible speed. During the last Borg assault on Earth, he found a weak point on the Borg cube that allowed our fleet to concentrate the fire and destroy the cube. Can we repeat this success, and more importantly, more than once?" She directed the question at Seven.
Seven hesistated. "No." she answered. "The weak point which Captain Picard exploited was the result of the Borg cube's protracted engagement with Starfleet vessels. The cube regenerated battle damage over a twenty two hour battle period. While extremely efficient and redundant, Borg regeneration technology coupled with continiuos assaults cannot maintain perfect repairs. Essentially, the fleet took advantage of a weak point created by the cube's own repair efforts."
The Admiral Terry frowned. "How much time do we have to prepare?"
"Based upon my experience within the Collective, the most optimistic projections suggest the Borg will begin their assault within the next eighty six hours." Seven replied.
"Just how many ships can we reasonable expect the Borg to deploy?" Admiral Tomson asked.
"Overall fleet strength of the Borg Collective was heavily depleted during the Species 8472 war. However, they would still be able to maintain borders and defenses while deploying as many as several hundred cubes into Federation territory."
The President spoke up. "We need solutions, and we need them now. Other suggestions?"
Before anyone responded, the doors to the conference room opened up, and a senior officer marched into the room. The individual, a Commander, addressed the President hastily. "Sir, we've just received a communication from Starbase 134. They reported detecting Transwarp activity near their position. We've lost contact." The Commander had barely finished speaking when the several combadges beeped throughout the room. President's communication console came to life. "Mr. President, you wished to be informed as soon as we received word of Borg incursions within Federation Space."
The President stood up. "So it begins." He couldn't have sounded more grim.
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(sorry. me not so familiar).