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Stardate 233174.0 (Old Earth Equivalent March 3, 2547)

Admiral James Hansen gazed through the transparent aluminum window. Three attack fighters flew by escorted by a runabout. Beyond, the military might of the Federation was arrayed in all its glory. The largest fleet in the history of the galaxy was gathered orbiting the Class Y planet, chosen not for its strategic significance but for its distance from any possible enemy scouts. Ships flaunted their magnificence to the stars, a rare sight since the perfection of stealth. Two Sovereigns escorted by their attack wings appeared. As if in unison, their ablative armor generators kicked in sheathing the warships. The attack fighters danced around the Sovereigns. Red beams lanced out of the Sovereigns. In short order, the fighters were subdued. The fighters took their place beside their masters, ready to begin the ritual once more. A Prometheus started its separation sequence, its partner a Galaxy, both racing to be the first to complete the maneuver.

"Admiral, we're approaching the Excalibur."

"Good Ensign, inform the Excalibur to dispense with the ceremonies."

The Ensign nodded. She was maybe one and a half meters tall, perhaps shorter by Hansen by about thirty centimeters. She was slight. Her face was innocent but full of concentration trying not to make the slightest mistake. Hansen sighed. He supposed she could use a few words of encouragement.

"Ensign, what's your name?", said Hansen

"Ensign First-Grade Carol Smith, Service N--"

"Thank you Ensign. You're doing a fine job."

Hansen noticed the usual response, a redness filling the face followed by a cough. Riley would probably have laughed if Hansen mentioned his discomfort at being a living legend. Hansen could vividly remember the Academy days with Riley, full of practical jokes and adventures. And, of course, studying. But who wanted to reminisce about that?

"The Excalibur has cleared us for docking."

"Er, yes Ensign. Good. Carry on."

The Ensign swiveled her chair around to greet the standing Admiral.

"Sir... can I ask you a question?"

Hansen sighed. It was always the same question. He looked intently at Carol's face. It was full of hope, admiration and respect. Carol, suddenly taken aback by the Admiral's interest, regained her professionalism.

"Admiral--", she said beginning to swivel her chair back towards the console.

"Ensign, its okay. The autopilot can take it from here. What did you want to ask me?"

"What... what was it like, the Battle of Vulcan?"

"Ensign, believe it or not, I think about Vulcan all the time."

"Sir?"

"Its not always like it is in the books Ensign. We lost a lot that day. I lost a good friend."

"Permission to speak freely Sir?"

"Of course."

"We're all grateful to you Sir. The Federation."

Hansen turned away and looked out the window again. The visage of the Excalibur filled the frame. The Excalibur was the pinnacle of Mid-Twenty Fifth Century Federation technology. It was nearly three times as long as Sovereign and far more heavily armed. Two squadrons of attack fighters complimented its formidable phaser and torpedo mounts. The making of such a grand ship had been decades if not a century in the making, propelled from concept to construct by the discovery of far more resilient and durable materials which allowed the Excalibur to withstand the stress of high warp.

"Admiral on the deck!"

Hansen turned to see the rear shuttle door dropped and the honor guard at attention. The Federation's finest were in dress uniform. As Hansen exited the deck, he heard a whistle.

"Aten-hun!"

A thousand boots clicked. The shuttle bay had been cleared for the Admiral's arrival. Hansen walked down the red carpet towards the podium alone, and picked up a small datapad.

"At ease. You probably all know what is going on, but for those of you without contacts in Starfleet Security or who do their jobs rather than frequent ten forward, I'll fill you in." Hansen paused, letting the laughter subside.

"The war has been brutal, and it has been costly. Millions of Federation and allied lives have been lost. Many of you have lost family, friends and collegues in this war. I know you would rather be anywhere but here. I know you would rather be on Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Qo'nos, Risa or wherever you find comfort and solace. But the preservation of our way of life has demanded sacrifices." Hansen stopped.

"I come to you today... not as an Admiral, but as a fellow sentient being. I come to you today to tell you that the greatest threat the galaxy has ever faced is assembling a force that will not only threaten our lives, but the very concept of living."

"The cooperation of citizens of all civilizations has allowed us to reach this point, this point where we are on the verge of victory. Never in the history or future of sentience will so much be owed by so many to so few -- for our victory shall ensure peace and prosperity throughout the galaxy not only for ourselves, but for our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren and their grandchildren, for the rest of time. And to our enemies, I say only this."

"Resistance is futile."

At that the assembled cheered unrestrained despite their military discipline. Spontaneously officer hugged crewman, Romulan embraced Klingon, and grunt greeted swab jockey. Hansen smiled, the first time since Vulcan. There would be no turning back now. He tapped his communicator.

"Hansen to bridge. Send to fleet. Prepare for transwarp."

"Sir, all vessels acknowledging your signal and awaiting your go."

"Tell them as soon as the last vessels arrive to initiate transwarp. Make sure to inform the stragglers."

"Aye Sir."

Hansen faced the assembly. They were still cheering. The shuttlebay doors were open, and through the forcefield one could see the fleet saluting with a dazzling display of fireworks. "Dismissed.", he whispered, leaving through the nearest turbolift.

Brian

From what I can gather, this looks like a future Federation about to put it's boot up the Borg's collective ass.

I'm curious as to how it came to this...perhaps more backstory along the way? I'm as curious about the "Battle of Vulcan" as our nervous young Ensign.

A union of this magnitude I can see actually happening if the Borg had really fucked up all the partners involved (Klingons, Romulans, etc...). It's almost like the prelude of a new federation, so to speak.

Keep this one going...I'm eager to see where the fleet is warping off to and what happens after.

Stardate 233174.2 (Old Earth Equivalent March 3, 2547, later that day)

Hansen sat in the ready room of the Excalibur, his mind engrossed by the screen. His hands glided across the keyboard, deftly manipulating the data. Much had changed in the Federation since his grandmother's time. Touch-screens had slowly been replaced by tactile interfaces, a lesson learned the hard way after skyrocketing losses in combat due to exploding plasma consoles.

Consoles was just the beginning. The discovery of transwarp meant other innovations. Although the progress was slow, it was steady. Space combat before the revolution had been a largely static affair. Ships lined up in formation. They closed to point blank range. Whoever had more ships won. Occasionally, a battle was won through outmaneuvering by being able to bring many ships to bear at once. However, most 24th Century tacticians were not risk takers. The tried, true and tested way to fight in space had remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

The Federation began the revolution with the introduction of massive carrier ships, designed to transport large numbers of strike craft. Eventually however, most powers in the Alpha Quadrant developed enough phaser accuracy to easily destroy massed fighters. It seemed for awhile that the revolution would be stopped in its tracks, and battles would revert to attrition.

Shield and armor developments did not keep up though. A new age of phaser weaponry designed to take advantage of the power generation developed for the maturing transwarp industry entered common use. At first, these weapons were cumbersome and large, requring a massive capital ship mount. Eventually the weapons scaled down dramatically. Shields were near ineffective against these weapons. Gone were the days of ships lining up in formation firing at each other for hours. Warp, long only strategic, became tactical as maneuver warfare turned into the rule rather than the exception. Instead of dropping to impulse and diverting warp power to shields and weapons, with the increased power generation developments, tacticians were now able to stay at warp without compromising endurance or firepower. With the perfection of phasing cloak which only exotic and specially designed weapons could penetrate, the tactician was free to be in the midst of battles without distraction.

The Romulan wars proved the versatility of the new paradigm. The Romulans, attached to their massive battleships, paid the price. Despite intensive research into shielding and armor technology, their battleships could not fend off the attacks of even the smallest Federation craft. The Klingons perfected the technique of warp strafing. Only the most heavily shielded capital ships could survive even a single attack run. The Federation, although outnumbered five to one, gained the advantage as even the smallest heavy fighter could cripple the most massive dreadnaughts. After ten years of constant struggle, the Federation defeated the Romulan Star Empire. The Romulans were incorporated into the Federation. For the next hundred years, the Golden Age of the Alpha Quadrant gave countless citizens the chance to bask in prosperity.

However, with paradise came woes. The military reverted to a shell of its former self, no longer needed to fight non-existant enemies. The riches of colonies were funnelled into the core worlds, seeding unrest. Despite the possibilities of transwarp, the Federation built a static defense network across their quarter of the galaxy, content to bask in its own succulence. The old greviances were unearthed, and the Maquis were reborn, although now instead of fighting the Cardassians they rebelled against the ever growing corruption of the Federation upper echelons. Consumed by internal strife, the Federation paid no heed to the signs of missing colonies or probing advance forces. Then, on Stardate 220147.0, nearly ten years ago, a patrol ship at the edge of Federation space intercepted and transmitted the following message before contact was lost.

"A Vessel has been detected. Unimatrix nine eight nine four grid two two four seven. Activate. Alter course to intercept. Federation Starfleet, unknown class, two hundred fifty two lifeforms. Prepare for assimilation."

"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

Although the appearance of the Borg renewed calls for a revitalized Starfleet, opponents argued that the Borg were an ancient threat and would be easily defeated if they attacked. They had only sent one vessel each time, and perhaps they would only send one again. Nearly a hundred years ago, the collective had been defeated by a virus, and no longer posed a threat, argued the pacifists. Besides, the Federation had long ago mapped all transwarp conduits. The ones which were still open for interstellar travel were heavily guarded and frequently patrolled. It would take the Borg years to mobilize a large enough force to threaten the Federation.

The Borg file sat at Starbase 147, untouched for the next five years as the committee of Admirals appointed to assess the Borg threat languished. It was agreed a small fleet of ships should enter Borg space and destroy the collective once and for all. The Borg ship the scout had encountered didn't seem any more advanced than the ones encountered hundreds of years ago.

Before the decision was rubber stamped, on Stardate 220161.1, a contact appeared on the long ranged sensors of Starbase 147. It was exactly five kilometers by five kilometers by five kilometers in volume, and sensors could not penetrate its hull. A voice only hailing channel was opened by Commander T'vok.

"Greetings, alien vessel. Identify yourself. You are entering Federation territory. Please state your intentions."

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender. You will be assimilated. Your technological and cultural distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile."

"We mean you no harm."

"Harm is irrelevant."

"Perhaps we can find a peaceful solution."

"Negotiation is irrelevant."

Commander T'vok waved to her communications officer. Before she could open her mouth and order weapons to ready, she and the five thousand crew aboard Starbase 147 were engulfed in a shimmer of green. Starbase 147 was no more.

Only now did Starfleet realize the nature of the threat. Hundreds of vessels were approaching at transwarp. Without time to prepare, despite having a significant technological advantage, much of the Federation was overrun in the next few days. Millions died. Billions were turned into mindless automatons. Eventually, the Federation fought the Borg to a standstill and their attack was halted after the assimilation of only a few dozen worlds. However, more and more Borg vessels arrived from the Delta Quadrant, swelling the ranks of the collective. It was only through sheer determination that Starfleet had been able to keep the core worlds safe. Battles involving squadrons of fighter craft thrown against entire Borg fleets were common. Attrition was high. Life expectancy of a Federation pilot was five days after initial deployment. These first warriors gave the Federation time to consolidate their military and build a response force.

Hansen thought about what his grandmother would have done in those desperate times. The invasion had started five years ago. He and most of Starfleet fought back as hard as they could, while the Federation kicked its industrial prowress into full gear. Conscription increased Starfleet's ranks. Now they were on the offensive. Hansen wondered what Riley would have done.

"Admiral, we are entering Borg space."

"I'll be up there shortly."

Hansen clicked off his terminal. This would be the battle to end all battles, the war to end all wars. No longer would the Federation be threatened by the menance of the Borg. No longer would the Federation be satisfied with a partial victory, delaying the consequences of not following through to future generations. The presence of the Borg in the galaxy would be eradicated. This was his purpose in life. He was born to do this. He would be saving the lives of countless sentient beings.

Rather than setting his mind, these thoughts merely inflamed Hansen. "Hansen to the Bridge."

"Go ahead Admiral."

"I won't be heading to the Bridge. Wake the senior staff. Tell them to meet me in the war room."

"Aye Sir."

Hansen stood up, straightened his shirt, and exited.

Brian

Mario1470 wrote:From what I can gather, this looks like a future Federation about to put it's boot up the Borg's collective ass.

I'm curious as to how it came to this...perhaps more backstory along the way? I'm as curious about the "Battle of Vulcan" as our nervous young Ensign.

A union of this magnitude I can see actually happening if the Borg had really fucked up all the partners involved (Klingons, Romulans, etc...). It's almost like the prelude of a new federation, so to speak.

Keep this one going...I'm eager to see where the fleet is warping off to and what happens after.

Thanks. Maybe I'll write another flashback and explain more. The latest chapter answers a lot of your questions, though not all since I'm saving some for later.

Brian

Pretty Good.

Pretty good. One idea though is : show don't tell. You could right a whole story about the begining of your borg war.

Stardate 233174.3

The war room was an innovation of the most recent Romulan war. In the center of the pitch black room was an oval shaped dark oak desk. There were no seats. The senior staff filed in quietly, along with the most experienced captains of the fleet. Arriving alone, and last as usual, Hansen walked to the head of the long desk. There were forty seven people in the room, representing all branches of Starfleet. Near the head of the table was General Savar and two aides. She looked irritated at being forced to wait. Beside her was Chancellor K'vort. He was dressed in black robes. The Klingons had long ago passed through it's phase of religious fundamentalism. Long gone were the days when Klingon politicians had to don body armor to be acceptable.

"Please be seated."

Chairs appeared behind the standing, each one customized for its user. Hansen didn't have a chair. He stepped around the table as he talked.

"Computer, activate schematic. This is the attack plan."

A holographic galaxy appeared floating above the table. Large red dots appeared indicating critical mission objectives. Many thousands of smaller dots were spread out across the stars. A red triangle denoted the current position of the fleet, and if one concentrated he could make out small text revealing the time until completion of mission objectives and fleet concentration information.

"We know this.", snorted Savar.

"Yes, we know this plan well. That's why we're changing it."

A few muffled murmers rose, until quashed by Hansen's raised hand.

"The plan is seemingly foolproof. Our fleet will hit the entire Borg collective all at once. Even now attack ships are moving into position. It seems as we have made an irreversiable decision.", said Hansen.

"So why the change?", said a puzzled K'Vort.

"Because the plan is not seemingly foolproof. Our battles so far have been against a fraction of the collective's strength."

"Without the transwarp hubs, the Borg will not be able to concentrate their defenses and will be defeated.", said Savar.

"Yes. That is because the Borg do not have our firepower. Their shields cannot stand against our weapons. Even our own shields cannot stand against our own weapons. Its what has kept the Federation alive for so long. An attack wing of our fighters is a match for a fleet of their cubes."

"So why alter the plan now?", said a voice. Hansen recognized it to be the Section 31 attache.

"Because we are now entering Borg space. The Borg have had a long time to observe our tactics. They have had time to learn. If we spread out our forces, anticipating an easy victory, they may be able to take advantage."

"What is the alternative?", said K'Vort.

"Computer, activate schematic revision."

The red dots disappeared.

"Retreat?", said Savar. The murmers turned to forty-seven voices asking questions all at once. Hansen once again held up his hand.

"No. Computer, zoom in to these coordinates.", said Hansen while tapping the datapad in his hand. A box was drawn around a part of the galaxy and magnified until one could see several planets. It was a binary star system.

"I recognize the star system. It has been identified as the Nexus of the Collective. However what you propose does not make sense. The Borg are decentralized and have redundant systems. A decapitation--"

"Chancellor, I have been going over the historical and current data on the Collective. On Stardate 53049.2, the vessel USS Voyager encountered Borg. The details of the mission are irrelevant, involving the rescue of several Borg drones. However, there was a discrepancy that seemed pointless to the crew. They detected a unique Borg signature." Hansen paused.

"As we all know, USS Voyager encountered a transwarp hub on Star--"

"Pointless.", muttered Savar.

"Of course it is. If you want to skip the history lesson, I'll get straight to the... point."

Savar nodded.

Hansen manipulated his datapad. The starmap zoomed out again, this time with several green dots. Lines were drawn from the green dots towards a large green square. Numbers appeared above the green lines.

"This... incredible. How did we overlook this?", said Savar.

"My thoughts exactly. At first I thought it was a random occurance when I found two or three incidents. But correlating the known locations of the transwarp hubs and the encounters with the Borg..."

"The Borg expand their territory in a linear fashion.", said K'Vort. He smiled.

"Exactly. Here, here, and here. Exactly five thousand light years from this solar system. Here, here, here. Exactly ten thousand light years from this solar system. I can go on and on. It seems that the Borg are not as decentralized as they would like us to believe. Their expansion is always relative to this star system, and they always increase their territory in the same magnitude in all directions. It seems almost too good to be true. However, statistically such coincidences are impossible."

Hansen paused and looked at forty-seven faces. Many of them could not help but smile. Others coughed. The fearsome Borg, the omnipotent Borg, the deadly Borg had been reduced to a linear equation that even a child could solve.

"This is the new plan. We attack this system with the full force of our fleet. And--"

"--let them come to us.", finished Savar for Hansen. Savar too smiled, and nodded to Hansen with approval.

"The exact details of the plan will be forwarded to you. Department Heads, you are here as a courtesy and don't need to be. I don't like to keep my crew in the dark. But I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless you want to spend the rest of the journey in the Brig. I don't think I need to remind the rest of you that this is on a need to know basis only, irrespective of security clearances. Dismissed."

They all filed out. Hansen had not seen so many happy faces together since the beginning of the war. K'Vort was last in line. As he was about to leave, he turned around.

"Admiral, would you like to join me for dinner?"

Hansen looked up, startled. "Of course Chancellor. Why the offer?"

"I noticed you are a very lonely man Admiral."

"It comes with the job Chancellor."

"We think alike. Shall I invite Savar as well?"

"If she brings Romulan ale."

"No need Admiral. I have my own... personal supply."

K'Vort left, the holodeck doors closing with a thud behind him. Hansen stood in the dark for a minute. He couldn't help but think that they shouldn't celebrate until the end. There was still a possibility of failure. The Borg might not take the bait, and instead send their ships to Federation territory, large parts of which were now lightly defended. But if they did place special importance on this one location... the Borg would respond with every ship they had.

"If one then concentrates his strength on the enemy, killing his general a thousand li away, this is called achieving objectives through wit and skill.", thought Hansen. "Only time will tell if you're right -- if I'm right -- and let's hope the Borg haven't assimilated too much of our history." He took in a deep breath, composed himself, and left.

(quotation from Sonshi.com)

Brian

Crazedwraith wrote:Pretty good. One idea though is : show don't tell. You could right a whole story about the begining of your borg war.

Good advice . I'm hoping to show a lot in my future chapters, stay tuned.

Brian

Enjoyable.

Goodo. Keep it up, old chap.

Couple of nitpicks I have Brian (that you're free to ignore for the purpose of storytelling of course ).

First off, Borg vessels do have independent transwarp drive systems. Transwarp coils to be specific. The Collective's transwarp hubs allow the Borg to deploy vessels throughout the galaxy in minutes. A Borg transwarp coil propelled the Delta Flyer two hundred lightyears in roughly ten seconds in STVOY "Dark Frontier". IIRC, that would allow a Borg vessel to travel across the Milky Way in 3-4 days utilizing Transwarp coils (assuming they have that range). I don't know how fast your Federation's transwarp is though, so maybe the Collective's drives aren't up tp speed (pun intended ).

Second, Voyager destroyed one of six Borg Transwarp hubs. Visual evidence from STVOY "Endgame" indicated the Borg have at least one Hub in every quadrant of the galaxy (I might be able to find a screencap somewhere). You might want to explain what happened to the other five, or why the Collective cannot use them.

Also, while a certain level of centralization is going to be unavoidable, even for the Borg (resources aren't evenly distributed throughout territory of any type), your suggestion the Borg expanded their space in a linear fashion doesn't seem likely. Every indication suggests the Borg have no interest in political or territorial expansion. They only acquire that which interests them or they deem necessary to achieving their objectives. Examples are quite numerous, everything from their complete disinterest in provoking thousands of species by forcibily assimilating them, having variable strength throughout the entire Milky Way, and other more specific examples such as STVOY "Omega" where they assimilated at least three different primitive species for no other apparent purpose other than to track down information on the Omega particle.

Just my two cents here if any of it interests ya. Good writing so far though.

Robert Walper wrote:Couple of nitpicks I have Brian (that you're free to ignore for the purpose of storytelling of course ).

First off, Borg vessels do have independent transwarp drive systems. Transwarp coils to be specific. The Collective's transwarp hubs allow the Borg to deploy vessels throughout the galaxy in minutes. A Borg transwarp coil propelled the Delta Flyer two hundred lightyears in roughly ten seconds in STVOY "Dark Frontier". IIRC, that would allow a Borg vessel to travel across the Milky Way in 3-4 days utilizing Transwarp coils (assuming they have that range). I don't know how fast your Federation's transwarp is though, so maybe the Collective's drives aren't up tp speed (pun intended ).

Well, this Federation is set 180 years after they have built a "Maginot Line" of sorts around their territory and closed all transwarp conduits in. Anybody wanting to get in would have had to breech the line. Which the Borg did easily.

Second, Voyager destroyed one of six Borg Transwarp hubs. Visual evidence from STVOY "Endgame" indicated the Borg have at least one Hub in every quadrant of the galaxy (I might be able to find a screencap somewhere). You might want to explain what happened to the other five, or why the Collective cannot use them.

Well, they can, but the Federation closed transwarp hubs into their territory. The Alpha Quadrant has entered the "aircraft carrier" age, where even the smallest strike craft have enough firepower to defeat the shields and breech the hulls of the most massive vessels. That's why the Romulans were finished 100 years ago, and why the Borg incursion was slowed.

Also, while a certain level of centralization is going to be unavoidable, even for the Borg (resources aren't evenly distributed throughout territory of any type), your suggestion the Borg expanded their space in a linear fashion doesn't seem likely. Every indication suggests the Borg have no interest in political or territorial expansion. They only acquire that which interests them or they deem necessary to achieving their objectives. Examples are quite numerous, everything from their complete disinterest in provoking thousands of species by forcibily assimilating them, having variable strength throughout the entire Milky Way, and other more specific examples such as STVOY "Omega" where they assimilated at least three different primitive species for no other apparent purpose other than to track down information on the Omega particle.

Just my two cents here if any of it interests ya. Good writing so far though.

Of course not =D. We'll see what happens.

Brian

Stardate 233174.8

Hansen sat in his quarters, his elbows on the table and his hands up in the "thinker's position." His eyes were closed. The table was set for a dinner with three. The door chimed.

"Enter."

The swishing sound of a door opening and closing was followed by the slam of a hand on the table. Hansen saw a thick manila file folder on top of his dinner. K'vort. He preferred to use paper.

"You lied."

"Of course I did."

"But why?"

"Sit down Chancellor."

Hansen deliberately avoided looking at K'vort's eyes. What was going through his mind right now? Did he think that he had been betrayed? No, if K'vort had sensed deception, he would be in here with fifty guards armed to the teeth to arrest him. K'vort would wait for an explaination before making his move.

The door opened again, this time without a chime. Savar stormed in a fury and was about to open her mouth when she saw the manila folder on Hansen's lasanga.

"I did not know that paper was on the menu.", said Savar.

"Sit down General. I'll explain everything."

"I will have contact with Romulus within the hour. You traitor. After those words on the podium, to all those innocents, how could you--"

"--please Savar, sit down."

"I will not. Perhaps you are sick. We should have a doctor examine you."

"I am not sick, and despite the rumor mill I have no Borg implants. Sit down Savar."

The Romulan General took her seat. Hansen noticed she was armed with a disruptor pistol. Always the one to take precautions, the General. She probably had a dozen men right outside the room, ready to jump in at a moments notice.

"The Borg have assimilated hyperphaser technology."

K'Vort coughed up his food, which until now he had been politely consuming. Savar's angry face turned white.

"Are you certain? Our most liberal projections assumed the Collective would take decades to reverse engineer our weapons.", said K'Vort.

"Yes, I am certain. Two days ago, a runabout for our fleet detected weapons fire from Arraxis Six. When the scout arrived, there was nothing left of the fifty local defense vessels.", said Hansen

"Fifty? The collective must have attacked with hundreds of vessels.", said K'Vort.

"No." Hansen pressed a button. A holographic image appeared above the table. It was a visual of Arraxis Six. The visual zoomed into the starbase. The docking bay doors were open, and starships were lining up to enter. Most of force was in parade formation. Shuttles flew by every few seconds, and a squinting eye could make out small repair pods and even the occasional EVA suit. The visual flickered. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a transwarp conduit tore through the Starbase. Half the Starbase was ripped to shreds in an instant. A second later, it appeared. A single cube loomed over the small Federation task force. A hundred green beams streaked towards the Federation ships. It was all over. One ship survived though, its warp nacelles torn off. The ship was engulfed in green and disappeared.

"What was that?", said Savar.

"We believe it is a new form of Borg transporter technology."

"They can now transport entire starships?", said K'Vort.

"I'm afraid so. And it gets worse." Hansen manipulated his datapad. The visual quickly rewinded. "Computer, stop. Zoom in here.", pointed Hansen. The holographic image magnified, until it settled on an Akira class vessel. One of Starfleet's older vessels, it too with the rest of the fleet had been upgraded with new phaser and shield technology. The Akira itself would have been a match for a fleet of 23rd Century counterparts.

The image settled on the Akira and the side of the Borg cube. The Akira had fired its phasers.

"They have adapted."

"Impossible. The cube should have been annihilated.", said Savar.

"Agreed. The Akira must not have fired a full powered shot. Perhaps it had a damaged reactor.", said K'Vort.

"The Borg can't adapt to weapons without frequency.", said Savar. "Adaptation is something you scare little children with in history textbooks, when our technology was too primitive to open holes in shields."

"Of course not. At least, not in that way. I am using 'adapt' in the loosest sense. The Borg have somehow discovered a way to shield against our weapons."

"Do we know how they are doing this?", said K'Vort.

"The Akira's phasers could destroy any ship in the fleet in a single shot, the Excalibur included. We don't know how powerful the new Borg shields are, though it is clear that they have developed shield technology at least an order of magnitude more powerful than our own in the past five years of conflict. And their offensive capability is at least as potent as ours now."

"How long have we known this?", said K'Vort.

"Not long. Arraxis Six was the first we've seen the Collective field its new technology."

"I understand now.", said Savar.

"We must keep the fleet together. If the Borg have deployed this technology on all their ships--"

"--then the mission is doomed to failure K'Vort.", interrupted Hansen.

Savar stood up and left without a word. K'Vort sat for a minute, picked the manila folder off the lasanga, and headed for the door.

"I don't envy your job Admiral." K'vort exited.

Hansen slowly started eating his dinner.

Brian

Stardate 233175.0

"They have adapted!"

Hansen saw the terrified face of a security officer grow desperate as the Borg drone drew closer. It was close enough for Hansen to see the intricate details of Borg assimilation. Hansen had seen pictures before, but it never seemed so real. Its tritanium exoskeleton sported several scorch marks. Another phaser lanced towards it. The Borg shields glowed green, shrugging off the attack.

The Borg drone grabbed the security officer's neck. It extended its assimilation tubules. The security officer stepped in front of Hansen, holding his phaser rifle like a baseball bat.

"Computer, pause program."

Hansen circled around the drone and the security officer. This was one of the few holographic recordings of the Borg, on the USS Copernicus, over a hundred and fifty years ago.

"Admiral.", said K'Vort.

"What is your analysis?"

"The Borg relied on their drone shielding", said K'Vort, "and were able to adapt to the frequency weakness of Federation weapons."

"That much is obvious."

"When the Borg invaded five years ago, the modern generation of phaser weapons did not require an operating frequency. They were also far more powerful. Borg shields were easily defeated. We had also developed portable transporter scramblers.", said K'Vort.

"I know Chancellor. I'm wearing one now."

"Are you thinking what I am thinking Admiral?", said K'Vort.

"Of course. If the Borg have increased the strength of their shipboard shields by an order of magnitude, our phasers might be useless. They may have scaled down the technology onto their drones."

K'Vort gestured. "The security officer."

"What about him?"

"Do you see what he is doing?"

"He's about to be assimilated."

K'Vort shook his head. He reached into his robe and pulled out a box. "This is a family heirloom." K'Vort opened the box. It was thirty centimeters long. The handle fit K'Vort's grip perfectly. As K'Vort swung the knife, the blade guards opened. K'Vort smiled. "Computer, resume program." K'Vort shoved the security officer out of the way. The drone stumbled forward, slightly off balance. It was enough. K'Vort slashed the drone's arm off with his knife. The drone swung around his other arm. K'Vort deftly sidestepped the blow, and slashed off the drone's second arm. Then he slashed off the drone's head and stepped backwards. The drone's neck ejaculated black blood. It collasped at K'Vort's feet.

"Are thinking what I am thinking."

"Yes Admiral."

"Computer, end program." The interior of the USS Copernicus dissolved into the black and yellow grid of Holodeck 15.

"Hansen to the bridge."

"Go ahead.", said a disembodied voice.

"Send to all ships in the fleet and all troop commanders. Transporter scramblers are to be issued to all hands. I don't care if its an officer, crewman or a specialist. Also, all ships are to prepare to recieve a replicator pattern from Chancellor--" K'Vort held up a datapad. Hansen took it, and manipulated its controls. "--send to all ships the following replicator pattern. This is to become standard issue for all personnel."

"Sir? That's a..."

"I know what it is Lieutenant. Do it."

"Aye sir.", said the voice.

K'Vort placed his knife back in his box. "I took the liberty of testing as many replicator patterns as I could. The daqtagh is harder to use than a shortsword. I suggest a blade length of not more than 80 centimeters long. There will be some training necessary, but even the most inept should be able to hack Borg drones to pieces."

"I've heard of a Klingon weapon... a Bat'leth. It was in common use a century ago."

K'Vort laughed. "The Bat'leth was a useless weapon. It was a ceremonial blade for rituals. The fools used the bat'leth in combat despite its dull edge and inferority to the dagath."

Hansen headed for the door, then turned around. "What if the Borg have developed kinetic shielding?"

"It is possible. We have such technology. It is highly unlikely the Borg will deploy this on their drones however. Their drones need to manipulate their environment. If they are to assimilate--" K'Vort brought his fingers up to Hansen's neck. "--they must be able to interact."

"Studying the schematics of a Borg drone... they have wrist-mounted disruptor weapons."

"The wrist-mounted disruptors are tools rather than weapons. Even so, it is unlikely they will use them. Although it has been over a hundred and fifty years since confirmed combat with Borg drones, we do not believe Borg tactics have changed."

"A hundred and fifty years is a very long time Chancellor."

"It is indeed.", said K'Vort. Hansen left the holodeck, with the Chancellor in tow.

Brian

This is getting better. For the borg .

darthdavid wrote:This is getting better. For the borg .

Indeed. I was going to say that it sounded like they'd be royally fucked. The Feds have moved on to aircraft carrier era and the Borg seem to be dedicated devotees to the principle of the flying fortress.
Hey, how about having the drones shoot darts tipped with assimilation virus? I always wondered why they never bothered to develop them; having to get close to their victims is a serious handicap.

Junghalli wrote:Hey, how about having the drones shoot darts tipped with assimilation virus?

Good idea. The assimilation tubules can "penetrate any known armor" from some VOY episode I can't remember.

Brian

brianeyci wrote:

Junghalli wrote:Hey, how about having the drones shoot darts tipped with assimilation virus?

Good idea. The assimilation tubules can "penetrate any known armor" from some VOY episode I can't remember.

Brian

Scorpion, if I recall.
Anyway, nice fanfic. As long as you have both the Romulans and the Borg kick ass, I will be sated.

Stardate 233175.1

Hansen walked into the transporter room. The transporter room was far less spacious than in his grandmother's time, and there were many more of them. Scattered throughout the Excalibur, in the 25th Century, transporters were used for entry into high security sections of the dreadnaught. In the highly unlikely eventuality of boarding, an enemy would find no easy access into the core sections of the ship. The bridge, armory, barracks, engineering, auxillary control, battle bridge, fire control, war room and computer core were totally isolated in the event of enemy attack in the heart of the nearly two kilometer long ship. Would-be boarders would have to destroy fifteen meters of bulkhead just to reach these critical areas, stationed near one another and together called the "Green Zone". The ship's hull itself was laced with transporter inhibiting materials. Without using the ship's built-in transporter network, an attacker would have to tunnel to get to the Green Zone. Nobody without security clearance less than A1 -- a Starfleet Admiral or his equivalent -- knew about a recent upgrade to the Green Zone's armored bulkheads. After fifty years of research, materials science had caught up and the Federation fashioned its first neutronium deck plating. The neutronium plating had been secretly installed on the Excalibur's layover at Starbase Forty-Seven, although lack of raw materials meant only the Green Zone was protected with a thin layer of neutronium rather than the entire ship's hull. Nobody knew, and it would stay that way as long as they were fighting the Borg. It was one thing the Borg likely had not assimilated yet.

"Admiral?", said the transporter chief. He spoke in a thick accent that Hansen couldn't recognize.

"Chief, I'm ready."

Hansen prepared himself for transport. He wouldn't be going to the bridge this time.

"Hansen to Makar. I'm beaming aboard."

"Aye Admiral, we're ready for you."

Hansen's vision blurred as everything turned into a field of sparkles. The sparkles formed together. The first thing he saw was the shining golden helmet of a Romulan Centurion. Everything came together.

"Admiral on the deck!"

The lead Centurion brought his right hand up to his chest in a salute. His heels clicked in unison with those of his escort. The two flanking the Centurion twirled their rifles and slapped them onto their shoulders.

Hansen stepped down from the transporter pad. He was bracketed by the honor guard. Hansen looked down the hallway. Every five feet, there was a pair of praetorians on either side. As Hansen and his escort passed, the praetorians slapped their chest and clicked their heels.

They stopped in front of a door stencelled with Romulan. The words parted. Hansen stepped inside, alone.

"Was that really necessary Savar?"

Nothing. Hansen stepped further into the pitch black. As he left the arch, a massive wall of metal rushed towards him. Hansen instinctively ducked.

"My apologies Admiral. Computer, end program."

The blackness of space was replaced with the interior of a Romulan Senator's quarters. General Savar pulled the helmet off of her head. After the Romulans had been defeated a century ago, they were the first to embrace the new way of war. The Federation, loathe to occupy the Romulan's vast territory after their surrender, gave the Romulans near autonomy and allowed them to gently be integrated into the Federation. The result was that the Romulan Defense Force remained a distinct arm of Starfleet. With this distinctiveness came unique ideas outside the think-tanks of the Federation. The Klingons, although the first to perfect warp strafing, were soon superceded by the Romulans. The Romulans revived an ancient telepathic piloting program, rebuilding their fleet on the concept of highly maneuverable strike craft. Their economy quickly recovered. However, the Romulans were no longer led by an aristocracy, which was largely decimated by the war. Young Romulans, tired of hundreds of years of isolation and militarism, reformed the political and military apparatus of the Empire. After a short twenty years, the Romulans, who had lost their entire naval force and suffered tens of billions of casualties, became a thriving economic center in the Alpha Quadrant. Luckily for the Federation, Starfleet think-tanks had long forseen that the Romulans would quickly recover. During these twenty years, milions of Romulans were trained by Starfleet, and thousands graduated from Starfleet Academies, many going onto influential posts in the reborn Romulan Senate, whose membership requirements was merit rather than lineage. The rebuilding of the Romulan military, although largely a native venture, was assisted by Federation assets. The feared Romulan vengeance never came, and the Romulans joined the Federation as a special protectorate.

"What are you thinking Admiral?"

"Old history Savar. Have you recieved the replicator patterns?"

"Yes. Although I doubt they will be effective. It has been a hundred years since anybody has even seen a drone, let alone engage one in combat."

"It's better than nothing."

"Of course."

"What were you running?"

"A combat simulation."

"Of what?"

"I wanted to see the new Borg myself. I took the data we had on the cube that destroyed the Arraxis Six outpost. There's also new data." Savar handed Hansen a datapad. "Romulan fighters have engaged sixty-seven Borg cubes in the last twenty-four hours. Many have not returned. It is getting harder to supress the rumors."

"We can't let them know. Morale would plummet."

"I know Admiral. These are innovative, intelligent officers and crew we have under our command. Those who find out do not spread the word for they are professionals. But it is only a matter of time until the entire fleet knows." Savar paused. "Admiral, why are we going to this planet, this solar system?"

"I don't know."

"You do not know? You lead the greatest military force in the history of the galaxy! Millions of soldiers will live or die by your victories or mistakes! Hundreds of billions of innocent lives depend on our actions!"

"Its a feeling I have. I can't describe it. That, and the system being a nexus of increased Borg activity."

"A hunch?"

"If you want to call it that, yes. But it is more than that. Its not just the Borg. I feel something. Savar, you do trust me do you not?"

"Of course Admiral."

"I need to call in a favor."

Savar nodded. "You need my support for a controversal decision."

"That's the gist of it. And when I mean a favor, I mean the favor."

"James, I am not that slow. I understand. You saved my life at Vulcan. I will repay the debt."

"It... it'll take everything I have to make this work."

"You have my word I will speak for you when the time comes." Savar slapped visor of the telepathic battle helmet back over her face. "Was there anything else Admiral?"

"No. At least... not yet."

Brian

very,very nice.

Good good. I forsee much asskicking.

Bring on the Borg!!

This has been an enjoyable read so far.

Stardate 233175.1

Hansen sat down in his ready room. He remembered his grandmother telling him that ready rooms were "inefficient", that meetings should take place in a large room designed to brief as many senior staff as possible. Hansen readily disagreed. There was nothing like having a quiet room separate from your quarters to gather your thoughts before an important assignment. Sometimes, it was necessary to speak to an officer individually. He remembered the first time he had been called into a ready room as an Ensign. The anticipation of going into a room, alone with the man who would decide your fate, was exhilirating.

Now he would be deciding the fate of an entire galaxy.

"Admiral, priority message from Starfleet Command."

"Send it to my ready room."

Hansen had been anticipating this. He pressed a button. The seal of the United Federation of Planets appeared in a rotating hologram above his desk. A minature version of the briefing room in Starfleet Headquarters floated behind the seal and came to the foreground.

"Admiral Hansen, you are to order the fleet to set course for Federation territory."

"That's ridiculous. It's pointless to turn around now. We're deep in Borg space."

"Admiral, five thousand Borg vessels have appeared on long range sensors. They are approaching Federation territory at high transwarp. There's no other choice but to reopen a transwarp conduit, despite the danger of the Borg using it in a counter-attack. The fleet can be back in a matter of minutes."

"I'm sorry."

"Hansen, that is a direct ord--"

Hansen slapped his datapad. So it had started. He reached under the table and touched a drawer. He pulled out the phaser pistol. He hadn't held one since he was in basic training. "Hansen to the bridge." No response. "Hansen to the--"

The door to his ready room burst open in shreds. Hansen ducked under his desk and took a shot at the door, missing wide as the black figure in the doorway sidestepped to avoid the shot. Hansen fired a couple more times through the door, forcing the figure to withdraw behind the bulkheads completely.

"Admiral Hansen. You are relieved of command. Throw your phaser through the door and nobody has to get hurt."

There was no way that Starfleet Intelligence would have been contacted so quickly.

"You don't have the authority to relieve me of command. Your actions are illegal."

"Admiral, under Article 13 Section 31 of the Federation Charter, we are relieving you of command."

"Under what charge?"

"For collaboration with the Borg."

Hansen tapped his communicator. It sizzled and beeped. He reached for the panic button. Nothing.

"Admiral, throw your phaser through the door. Now."

Hansen tinkered with his phaser. The black figure reappeared in the doorway. Hansen threw the phaser threw the door. The piercing whine of a phaser on overload filled the air.

"Phaser on overload! Everybody, get out! Hansen you fool, you'll destroy the whole deck!"

Hansen leapt over his desk and bull rushed. The black figure in the doorway swung around his phaser rifle. Too late. Hansen slammed into the figure, and the shot went wide hitting the far end of the ready room and creating a shower of sparks. Hansen forced his knee into his opponent and twisted his arm, releasing his enemy's grip on the phaser rifle. Hansen had the phaser rifle. He shot. The black figure flew in the air across the bridge, slamming into a bulkhead. Hansen rolled across the floor avoiding a phaser shot, manipulating the controls on his phaser rifle at the same time. He fired, the widebeam hitting several black figures at once.

Hansen saw the rest of the black figures running into the turbolifts. The bridge crew was slumped over their stations. "Computer, initiate a Level Ten forcefield around the bridge . Seal the turbolifts to the bridge. Deploy anesthizine gas into the lifts. Run program Hansen-alpha-alpha-one-one, counter-insurgency mode. Activate anti-personnel turrets."

The "overloading" phaser whine ceased.

The sound of anti-personnel turrets dropping from the ceiling replaced the ringing in Hansen's head. Hansen walked back through the wreckage of his ready room door and slapped a wall panel, taking out a medikit. He took out a hypospray, reviving his crew. Groans replaced the whirring of the rotating antipersonnel turrets.

"Place that man into custody, and the rest of them too.", said Hansen to his tactical officer. Lieutenant Wilson nodded, and reached into his uniform for his phaser. He pulled the mask of the man in black off. "Admiral, this is..."

"I know who it is. Place him into custody. Revive him, and watch him"

Hansen turned to his officers and crew. He knew each of them personally, but now was not the time to get sentimental. "I know all of you have your doubts. That was Starfleet Intelligence. They invoked Article 13, Section 31. Although the use was illegal, Starfleet Command has ordered us back to Federation territory. I intend to disobey the order." Hansen paused, looking at each of the faces of his handpicked bridge crew. "We are heading to AX-548910. None of you have heard of it. It is a system on the far side of Borg space. We are heading there because it is the last, best hope for humanity. I will no longer lie to you, and I am sorry I had to keep this a secret for so long. The entire mission has been a lie. We cannot stop the Borg. The Borg are on their way with an unstoppable armada towards Federation space. But we cannot help them. I know your instincts tell you that we must fight to the death. What purpose does that serve but let the Borg enslave the remaining sentient beings in the universe? The Federation is dead. We are not. There is a way out, a way to leave this infested galaxy. The journey will be hard. We will have to fight our way through Borg space. But it is the only way. The Borg have assimilated our weapons and technology. We cannot defeat them. But we can create a new life for ourselves, a new life in another galaxy. We can rebuild society the way we want it, so..." Hansen stared at the limp Section 31 figure. "...so mistakes are not repeated. Those of you who wish to leave to defend your families and homeworlds may do so. But I tell you, it is a meaningless death. By the time you reach Federation space, they will have become mindless automatons. They will be dead. There will be nothing but death, assimilation or worse awaiting you. Make your decision now."

"Admiral. We're all with you.", said Commander Hernandez. Hansen looked at each of his officers and crewmen for approval. One by one, they nodded their heads.

"Okay then. Open a channel to the fleet."

Brian

Kickass.

And hence the name "The Exodus."

Nice Twist.