Yea post story here...comments in another *droools*
I can't wait for the next chapter........
Cyaround,
Jason
Star Crossed Fanfic
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Soontir C'boath
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I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."
It's a little late at night. But when a chapter is done, it's done. BTW I wouldn't mind there being two seperate threads so that you poor folks don't get excited everytime I post in response to something here. Otherwise, please enjoy.
Chapter 27: Wounds
“Give me a single reason why I should not kill you where you stand?” Nemesis asked icily.
Tarsi said nothing, he stood ramrod straight at attention, eyes straight ahead. Vash stood to his right, also at attention.
“Lord Nemesis…” Kittaine began. Nemesis held up a hand and did not stop staring at Tarsi and Vash with a glare that could kill.
“You allowed the Federation fleet to gain access to the Vulcan Science Academy where they proceeded to beam up the finest minds on Vulcan, and then as if that were not enough, they inserted a virus in the Vulcan memory cores that have erased every shred of data generated by our wormhole project in the last two weeks. You then failed to utterly crush the pitiful fleet that attacked Vulcan, there were 640 starships in total in the attack group, nearly HALF the size of the fleet we utterly decimated in the Battle of Sector 001! Most grievous of all was the loss of the Executioner with all hands to Federation contrived mass drivers.” Nemesis’ voice did not rise a single octave beyond the cold monotone that he had been speaking since Tarsi finished his report. The Battle of Vulcan was an unmitigated disaster. Tarsi knew it and Vash could barely acknowledge it.
Yes, they could point to the wrecks of 275 starships in orbit of Vulcan. They could point to the fact that the Federation fleet was forced to leave the field because they could not possibly overcome the Imperial presence on Vulcan despite the loss of the Executioner. But it all did not matter. They had lost.
Tarsi never knew defeat and it stung him to the core. Vash kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Tarsi had said nothing to defend himself since he gave his report. Vash wondered if his old friend was baiting death to avoid the humiliation of the defeat.
“Speak Captain!” Nemesis snapped.
Tarsi cleared his throat for a moment, never taking his eyes off the far distant wall in the main briefing room. Kittaine stared at the young captain. Tarsi was his guard dog, his warrior. No other stardestroyer captain that Kittaine had ever commanded showed the promise that this young man had. The killer instinct that drove him was a rarity even in the vast Imperial fleet. Tarsi was his greatest asset and he just may lose it now in Nemesis’ well deserved rage.
“I have no excuses, Lord Nemesis, nor will I insult you with a contrived one. I will not appeal to the Admiral for I have failed you both. The cold truth is I underestimated the Federation fleet commander and I paid the price for my lack of vision.”
“No, Captain, not yet, but you will.” Nemesis replied voice as cold as a tomb. Tarsi felt the grip on his throat but he did not waver, he did not flinch.
“I can only give you this solemn oath. I will personally hunt this man down and bring you the shattered hulk of his starship with him entombed within.” Tarsi said grimly and he finally turned from his gaze straight ahead to lock eyes with nemesis.
Nemesis returned the steady gaze with a hooded expression, Tarsi could feel the phantom fingers resting at his throat, ready to squeeze at a moment’s notice. The silence was palpable. Kittaine was torn, he was like a father to his commanders yet he could not intercede.
Nemesis suddenly turned away and waved a hand dismissively. The phantom grip disappeared. Tarsi only relaxed slightly. The anger still burned in his belly. He would avenge Jan-Her.
“Captain Tarsi, I will hold you to this vow. I am assigning you and the Vash to hunt this man to the ends of the universe and bring him back to me alive. This man must be taught the folly of opposing the Empire.”
“Alive?” Tarsi replied in confusion.
“Mara, play the message left for us in the Vulcan Institute.” Nemesis ordered and slid into a seat by Kittaine.
Mara flipped a control and a hologram sprang up on the table over everyone assembled. The image of James T. Kirk stood over them and he smiled softly. It was a cool confident smile. Kittaine frowned. This one was not even thinking of defeat.
“I am Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the United Federation of Planets. This strike against your forces is merely the opening round of a campaign that will be dedicated to defeating your Galactic Empire and its designs on my galaxy. We will not falter in our resolve, we will not tire in our dedication. We are joined with the Rebel Alliance of your galaxy in our single goal and purpose. This battle is merely the beginning. Your forces will not be safe wherever they are and we will remind our citizens that living under the yolk of oppression is not the way that free peoples should live. You have my message and my single demand, leave this galaxy at once, or lay down your arms and surrender. Otherwise we have nothing to discuss. I also know how tyrants like you function, any reprisals for actions on our part against Federation civilians will be responded to in the most vehement of manners. You will suffer ten fold what the innocents suffer. Remember, we’re not just fleets of ships, we’re people, billions of people spread throughout 150 member worlds. I’ve done the math, even with the population of the Romulan Star Empire you cannot hold on to the Federation and the Klingon Empire. There will be gaps in your security and I assure you we WILL find those gaps and you WILL be made to pay. This is my message and my demand.” The hologram of Kirk paused and he smiled broadly now as he leaned forward slightly, his eyes seemed to find everyone in the audience. “And in case none of you have heard by now: The Federation Lives.” The hologram winked out.
Tarsi’s face hardened as he realized who it was that had beaten him.
“Kirk.” He whispered.
Mara watched Nemesis closely. He had focused all his attention on a small detail that most of the others missed but she picked up right away. Kirk was wearing a silver lightsaber on his utility belt. It was prominently displayed at his waist. A lightsaber that she was nearly certain was the same one Nemesis had wielded when he was Luke Skywalker. He seemed mesmerized by it.
“That is a dangerous man.” Kittaine concluded.
“How so?” Mara asked.
“He’s not even contemplating defeat. In his mind he seriously believes that he has already won this war.” Nemesis replied quietly before Kittaine could answer.
Mara snorted.
“Isn’t overconfidence a weakness?”
“There’s a fine difference young lady between over confidence and dedication.” Kittaine replied.
“He doesn’t stand a chance.” Mara countered. “This is simple posturing for the benefit of his people.”
“Normally I would agree Mara but he has sent us another subtle message with this demand.” Nemesis replied.
Mara looked at Nemesis quizzically.
“He has not disseminated this throughout the Federation. Normally this would be used as propaganda by the Starfleet remnant to bolster morale but as far as our intelligence agents can tell, no one has seen or heard this message on any Federation world.”
“That’s a subtle message?”
“Yes, it means that he does not feel that he needs to bolster morale by spreading this message around. He is simply making this a private conversation, assuring us that he will strike at us in any way possible.”
“And the lightsaber?” She asked, not liking at all the tone Nemesis took with her. He sounded like a school teacher lecturing a child. She briefly enjoyed the expression of annoyance on his face.
“Obviously someone from our galaxy has given him that relic.”
“It ought to have a very powerful rallying effect for the Alliance troops under his command.” Mara replied.
“Be that as it may, he is to be hunted down and brought to me personally, is that understood, Captain?” Nemesis asked coldly.
“Understood, my lord.” Tarsi replied.
“You are now living on borrowed time, Captain Tarsi, your life is in Captain James T. Kirk’s hands. The longer he remains out of my custody the more I will feel the urge to discipline you for your gross incompetence at the Battle of Vulcan.” Nemesis added and Tarsi felt the fingers at his throat again, a light brush to reassure him that they were still there.
“I will not fail you, my lord. Captain James T. Kirk is as good as dead.”
Tarsi stormed out of the briefing room, Vash right behind him.
“That’s quite a situation you negotiated for us.” Vash said quietly as Tarsi kept on walking.
“I have no doubt that we will do our duties, Vash. Get back to your ship, I intend to be under way within the hour.”
“Under way where, Tarsi?”
“I’m going to find that bastard and I have some ideas where to start looking.”
“Very well.” Vash paused. “And where will you be?”
Tarsi entered a turbolift and regarded his old friend for a moment before answering.
“She’s in pain and I haven’t seen her since the battle. I owe it to her.”
“Of course.” Vash replied and nodded to his friend as the doors slid shut. He briefly wondered how they were going to find this Starfleet Captain. He also wondered how long they had until Lord Nemesis finally lost his patience and decided to ‘discipline’ them.
“You have to understand, sir. Her injuries were rather grievous. If the recovery teams got to her even a few minutes later she would most likely be dead.”
Tarsi ignored the worried physician and strode through the infirmary of the Emperor’s Will. Officers and men from the Relentless were filling a portion of this infirmary. More wounded were in other sections. Medical droids quietly moved among the wounded, tending to them.
He walked right up to a medical bed that was sealed off by a simple privacy screen. He hesitantly pushed it aside prepared for anything.
Captain Belladonna sat upright in her bed reading an after action report on a datapad. She quickly glanced up and froze for a moment. He smiled softly as he saw her. The left portion of her face was covered in a bacta soaked bandage, her right arm was also covered in a similar bandage. He noted the life support machinery that was only recently switched off. She had been in a coma for nearly a week.
“Belladonna…Illith” he said and walked over to her bedside. He hesitantly reached out to touch her hand. She looked up at him, eyes glistened for a moment as emotion welled up within her heart.
“Tarsi.” She replied softly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
“Are you well?” He asked her seriously.
She nodded slowly and examined the dashing young Captain. She would always view him that way ever since the first day they met. His bright blonde hair was always kept short in a military crew cut but his intense ice blue eyes never ceased to enthrall her. There were depths to this young man’s soul that she could only guess at when she looked into those eyes. Even when they were lovers, she could never get into his soul. His privacy was sacrosanct.
He returned her steady gaze, a yearning hidden behind the worried expression.
“They have ruined my face.” She whispered.
Tarsi shook his head and his free hand softly pushed aside a stray lock of hair.”
“No, Illith. They could not ruin your face. It is more beautiful then I remember.” He replied.
Belladonna shook her head and snorted.
“Did you know that I will probably lose my eye? The damage from the superheated metal and plasma was too much for the doctors to fully repair. They are waiting a few more days to see what the Bacta may be able to do.” She bit her lower lip for a moment to fight the strange mix of rage and grief that ate at her.
“I am looking like my ship now. Quite a pair we make, Tarsi. I’ve read the after action reports, my poor ship has been devastated by our stay in this forsaken galaxy.”
“I prefer to see it as the utter invincibility of the ship and her Captain. These primitives cannot destroy you.” He replied and slowly leaned in close to her. “I will avenge you, I will find this Kirk and I will bring you his heart on a plate. You have my word, Illith.”
Belladonna slowly turned her head to face him, lips only an inch apart but the heat between them was like a volcano.
“I would prefer you bring me your heart, and the rest of you back alive.”
He stared at her for a moment surprise in her eyes.
“When I lay on this bed, and they were working on me, I could feel myself slipping away and someone said your name. It brought me back. I snapped right back into my body because I felt this desire, an insatiable need to see you.”
Tarsi swallowed softly.
“When I saw the casualty reports and saw your name, I wanted to abandon my post, take my ship out of that damnable Klingon campaign and come here to be by your side.”
“You most certainly did not.” She whispered, their lips slowly coming closer together.
“No, I am a soldier of the empire. Duty is at the core of who I am. But now I feel something stronger than duty.”
“You’ve never said this before, Tarsi.” She replied, eyes burrowing into his.
“No more words.” He whispered.
They kissed for a long moment, his lips pressed in to hers and his body leaned over her on the medical bed. The sounds of the infirmary drifted away and there was only the sound of their heartbeats and breathing. There was an obvious hunger in their kiss, a desire to be one with one another that had been denied by time, circumstance and duty. But neither one would allow that to intrude on them. They were alone, in their own universe and there was nothing but their passion.
When their lips finally parted Tarsi and she exchanged a meaningful glance as an officer stepped into the private area.
“Branna.” Belladonna said with a soft smile.
“Little sister, I’ve brought you a present.” Branna replied and stopped short as he saw Tarsi sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Do tell, Captain.” Tarsi added with a wolfish grin.
Branna cleared his throat and motioned for someone to walk into the patient area. A young man stepped in, hair in slight disarray, a bruise was slowly healing underneath one eye but his uniform was immaculately kept. A Starfleet uniform.
“Any particular reason why you’ve brought this person in here?” Tarsi sneered.
“Tarsi.” Belladonna said softly and gripped his shoulder. Tarsi seemed to relax at her touch. Branna noted this with a quiet acceptance.
“This is a Starfleet doctor, one of their finest, if our records are correct. He is available to look after your wounds and see what he can accomplish.” Branna suggested hopefully.
“Considering the state of their technology and engineering principles I wonder if he is anything more than a witchdoctor. After all their ships routinely blow themselves up, what is he going to do, give Illi- Belladonna a stroke?”
The young man cleared his throat.
“My name is Doctor Julian Bashir. I must begin the examination and I will need a copy of her chart.” Bashir stated firmly, not flinching under Tarsi’s stony gaze.
“Of course, doctor, I’ve also brought you an assistant to assist you. It’s the oddest thing, but in our recovery efforts around Starfleet command we discovered this little trinket.” Branna held up a small handheld device. It resembled a wrist band of some kind.
“Imagine our surprise when we discovered this.” Branna said and placed the object on the floor and touched a control. Suddenly a hologram snapped on of a middle aged balding man dressed in a similar uniform to Bashir’s.
“Please state the nature of your medical emergency.” He stated simply then looked around for a moment, slightly disoriented. He saw Branna and his face fell.
“Oh, it’s you. I suppose you still want to play games with me or something. I’ll have you know that I’ve been declared a sentient being. You have no right treating me in this scandalous manner.” His eyes fell on Belladonna. Concern suddenly etched his face. “Oh, what happened here?”
“They have holographic doctors.” Branna exclaimed.
“Simpleton.” Tarsi snapped.
Branna frowned.
“No need to be rude, Tarsi. Branna always means well.”
“So I’m supposed to trust a holographic doctor and an enemy doctor with the life of a stardestroyer Captain?” Tarsi asked darkly.
“I am a doctor before anything else. It is my duty to provide medical assistance to anyone that needs it whatever uniform they wear.” Bashir replied wearily. DS9 had fallen to the Imperial offensive relatively early on. He had not seen any of the others after the station was stormed. When they discovered he was a doctor he was immediately transferred to Earth. He had been assisting the Imperials with the relatively minor wounded and had even been allowed to assist with Federation wounded as well. He had not slept in three days but they had not mistreated him in anyway.
“I believe that we should start with a series of Proregen shots to see if we can’t get a little more lividity out of her left side. That skin is not looking healthy.”
“I was thinking of the same thing, but I prefer a category of neurostem scans, preferably of her anterior lobe and perhaps and anaphasic cascade to detect any abnormalities at the cellular level.” Bashir replied.
“Right, right, but will the anaphasic cascade give us any problems when we start her on the Lonodrin series?” The Doctor asked seriously, occasionally eyeing Belladona.
“One thing at a time doctor.” Bashir replied with a soft smile.
“It seems you’re in good hands.” Branna said with a clap of his hands. Tarsi did not look convinced but he rose from her bedside and watched them intently for a moment.
“One thing doctor Bashir.” Tarsi said seriously. Bashir turned his head to regard the Imperial captain. “If you so much as cause her to have a migraine headache, then I hope pain is something you enjoy.” He said gravely.
“Threatening the physician treating your fellow officer is hardly a way to engender a stable doctor patient relationship, now shoo. We have work to do.” The Doctor replied making shooing motions with one hand while he ran a tricorder over her head.
Tarsi frowned and stormed away. Branna nodded to Belladonna. “You’ll see little sister, you’ll be fine.” He said cheerily.
“Branna, I’m older than you.” Belladonna replied with a half hearted frown.
Branna smiled and left as well. Belladonna looked at each of the Starfleet officers intent on her.
“Gentlemen, if I were both of you I would not be so worried about Tarsi or Branna as I would be about me.” She said with a frosty smile.
“You have to wonder about these people.” The doctor sighed.
Bashir remained silent as he continued working and wondering what had happened to them and the Federation that in a span of two weeks they were almost completely under occupation with no hope in sight.
He heard the gentle hiss of the door and he looked away as he heard someone enter. He remained silent, head resting against his chest, legs drawn up so that his knees were resting against his chin.
He could feel the newcomer’s looming presence over him but he remained silent, eyes down at the floor.
“Ochoa, what’s the matter? Look at me.”
Ochoa slowly looked up in the direction of the voice.
“What do you want Han? Come to gloat about another victory against the Federation?” Ochoa replied softly.
He heard the sharp intake of breath.
“What happened to you?” Han asked.
“Does it matter?” Ochoa asked, ignoring the steady throbbing underneath his right eye and the cold bite on his lip. He could feel the bruising on his left side as well.
“Who did this to you?” Han demanded and his voice seemed to slip. No longer the quiet young voice of a boy, but a voice that was accustomed to being obeyed, it was a voice of command and there was an edge there, an anger that he had not detected before in his new found friend.
“How am I supposed to know, I’m blind remember?” Ochoa replied. “All I know is that a few of your brave soldiers of the empire came in here a few hours ago and decided to extract a little revenge for what happened to the Executioner – whatever that means.” He could almost hear Han’s shoulders slump.
“I take it that the Federation found a way to hurt one of your mighty warships?” Ochoa asked wanly. He could feel Han’s sudden sharp gaze.
“We lost more than 9,000 officers and men on the Executioner. She was destroyed with all hands by some new Federation fleet commander. I think he calls himself Kirk.”
Ochoa sat up straighter as he heard this.
“James T. Kirk?” He asked.
“DO you know him?” Han asked and he could feel the sudden interest.
“I actually met him right before I was captured. The man is a legend. The finest Starfleet officer to ever wear the uniform. Hell, most of us went into Starfleet because of stories we heard about him.”
“I see.”
“You’ll excuse me if I’m in no mood to play.” Ochoa said after a moment of silence.
“You need medical attention.” Han noted.
“What I need is to be out of here and living my life as I was. This is no way to treat a prisoner, even an enemy prisoner.”
“I’ll call for a doctor.”
“How do you live with yourself?” Ochoa asked sharply.
“What?” Han replied angrily.
“How do you live with yourself, knowing that you serve in a military that routinely abuses, tortures and torments its helpless prisoners?”
“How dare you-“
“You’re a good man, I can feel that Han.” Han was suddenly silenced by those simple words. He could feel the tension in the air. “You are not like this, you are not a man that can treat people like this. I can feel it in you and you still pretend that this is alright.”
“You have no idea what you are saying.” Han interjected voice suddenly thick with emotion.
“Yes, I do. I’m a starship captain, we have to be good with people, its part of the job as well as being a diplomat. I’ve known you now since you’ve been in this galaxy and you are a good man, you’re trying to follow orders and do your best to believe in this empire but it bothers you, something about it bothers you to the core.” Ochoa noted.
“Shut up.”
“Go ahead, Han. Bury your head in the sand, but I have no reason to lie to you. I don’t need eyes to see that you are a good man struggling with his conscience.”
“Shut up!” Han roared. Ochoa felt something shove him back against the wall and he groaned as something cracked in his left side. He slowly sat up, slightly dazed. How could Han have pushed him? He was on the other side of the room, and it didn’t feel like hands.
The doors to the cell slid open.
“You, get a doctor here right away.”
“Han.” He called after him.
There was silence, but the door was obviously still open.
“What?” Han asked darkly.
“While they were bravely beating a blind man, one of them stopped the others. He said that they had to be careful because I was a favorite of Nemesis’. Did you know what that meant?” He asked, wishing fervently to see the young man standing in the doorway but only seeing utter darkness.
“I’m sure I don’t know.” Han replied softly and walked out of the cell. The door slid shut and Ochoa was left alone.
“You expect me to trust this..thing? In case you haven’t been keeping score she has led attacks against the Federation with the express purpose of assimilating the Federation and all its worlds.” Archer snapped.
The Borg Queen remained seated casually in the Defiant’s mess hall which was currently doubling as a meeting room. She watched the young captain with all the interest of a scientist dissecting an insect. Her eyes occasionally flickered over to Janeway and Seven of Nine.
“Captain, we have to entertain the possibility that the Borg are the only ones right now that are a credible threat to the Empire.” Janeway cautioned.
“Are you actually telling me that you’re in favor of this alliance?” Archer asked incredulously. Janeway pursed her lips for a moment, uncertain how to proceed. It was obvious that Archer was adamantly opposed to what the Borg Queen was offering, however she had granted them unprecedented access to the Borg data banks. It became painfully clear that the Federation was woefully outmatched by the Imperial forces. Janeway and the others watched as Federation world after Federation world simply surrendered in the face of such a challenge. Even Earth herself, the heart of the Federation had fallen in a matter of hours.
“Captain Archer, you are letting emotions cloud your judgment.” Seven added coolly.
Archer stared at her for a moment in a barely concealed expression of betrayal.
“Seven, after what they have done and what this one plans to do how can you sit there and tell me this is in any way a good idea.”
“Captain Archer, what the Borg offer is a chance at victory. The current chances that the Federation has of defeating the Empire are 0.005%, and that is taking into account all manner of radical probability shifts and giving the Federation every conceivable advantage.” The queen explained calmly, she had that mysterious smile on her lips, as if she were enjoying a private joke, most certainly at their expense.
“The chances that the Federation will even survive into the next two months are 2%. I would say that you truly have no choice.”
“You think you’re going to scare me by spouting those figures at me?” Archer asked sharply.
“The numbers are the numbers, only you humans have continually argued against cold hard facts, much to your detriment.”
“Captain, you saw the reports yourself, you saw the Battle of Sector 001, and our fleet stood absolutely no chance of winning. What we’re looking at is a chance to win a victory, or at the very least carve out a safe haven for our people.” Janeway pressed gently.
Archer’s eyes widened.
“Safe haven?! With the Borg as our gentle protectors?” Archer’s eyes narrowed on Janeway. “Did your time in the Delta Quadrant affect your perspective?” He asked.
Janeway flushed red.
“Captain, I would refrain from comments like that.” She snapped.
Archer whirled on the Queen.
“Tell me, your highness, what were the chances of a Federation victory after Wolf 359?”
The queen’s smile faltered ever so slightly.
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” She replied evenly.
Archer nodded.
“It has everything to do with it. You give me numbers to say that we should betray all our ideals and join with our mortal foe. I say that your numbers aren’t always accurate, are they?”
“After Wolf 359, we estimated the chances of assimilating Earth to be 97.589%”
“And how wrong you were.”
“Captain Archer, this is not Wolf 359, this is not a single cube, we’re facing a war fleet, well organized and they also have the resources of the Romulan Star Empire supporting them.” Seven replied. She gazed into his eyes with concern. She could see that he was unhappy with the turn of talks. However, the Borg queen had been very persuasive in making her case. She had shown them all the data they had at hand. There was no doubt.
“In the end, why are we even dealing with her? She’s been severed from the Collective, they acknowledged that she is such a hindrance and a failure that she was no longer a necessity. What can she offer to us?”
“That is a good question. You have been rather vague about getting the Collective to do anything now that you are no longer their queen.” Janeway noted.
The Borg queen nodded slowly.
“You are wise to doubt me, but we can deal with the Collective soon enough. You after all were the first species to ever negotiate a treaty with the Borg. You can do so again.” The Queen answered.
“So, you don’t have a foolproof way, you’re counting on our negotiation skills to talk the Borg into helping us. This is not what we were envisioning.” Janeway protested.
“The time will come when the Borg will look upon you and you will have no choice but to deal with them. You have to ask yourself a very important question. Do you want to face the Borg alone or with an ally that knows how they think, that can speak in a language that they understand.”
They were silent for a moment. Suddenly the Queen stiffened slightly and cocked her head as if listening to something far away. The others stared at her, waiting with an awful sense of anticipation.
“The Federation has just destroyed one of the Imperial Stardestroyers.” The Queen relayed to them with some amazement. Archer smiled triumphantly.
An intruder alert alarm went off. Archer whirled around drawing his phaser as a dozen Borg drones beamed into the mess hall.
“Do not resist. It will do you no good.” The queen stated gravely as more drones appeared. She smiled at Janeway. It was an awful smile. “It seems that the great Borg eye has turned its attentions to you.”
“Why?” Archer hissed as the drones surrounded them. He pointed his phaser at the nearest drone.
“Because now they are curious. How did an organization with .005% chance of defeating the empire destroy one of their warships, a feat that 2,000 Borg cubes could not do?”
The Borg advanced on them and the Queen slowly rose up.
“Now is the time to make a choice.”
A holoimage of a Carrack Class cruiser hung suspended over the briefing table. A Romulan shipyard encased the Carrack. The image slowly rotated so that all the assembled Captains could see it.
“She is the last light ship in their fleet. Damage is being repaired at the Rihkasha shipyard. You know the rest. I expect all your commands to be ready at 1300. It’s not going to be easy. Security will be tight, the Rommies have the 12th and 16th Home Guard fleets defending the shipyard. The 12th and 16th were instrumental in the defeat of the Dominion fleet at Gamma Hydra 10 and they spearheaded the Romulan advance into Cardassia prime, they are not afraid of casualties, boys and girls. They are hard core so let’s not underestimate the enemy.”
“Imperial presence?” One Captain asked.
“There are two fighter squadrons stationed as point defense for the shipyards, otherwise the Impies are regrouping after their defeat at Vulcan.” Some of the men at the table smiled.
“To add to our misery, the Rommies have also rotated elements of their most damaged warships to these shipyards for repair, so there will be elements of several fleets in addition to the defensive fleet.”
“The more the merrier.” One of the captains laughed.
Durant rose at the head of the table and looked at each of his captains.
“I think we’ve been quiet long enough, don’t you? It’s time we stole some of that thunder that Kirk’s been throwing and remind the Imperials that we are the Fist of the Federation, we are the Avenging Angel.”
The Captains nodded their heads in agreement, many smiling broadly.
“So, at 1300 we commence operation Hermes.”
One Captain raised his hand.
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, I know your predilection for Mythology and the like but what exactly does Hermes have to do with this operation?”
Durant nodded slowly, a smile spreading across his face.
“Many of you may not know this, but Hermes was not just a messenger of the gods and fleet of foot, which incidentally does tie in with this operation since we have to be quick and we are most definitely sending a message…but the important point here is that Hermes was the patron god of thieves.” He replied with a wolfish grin.
In front of him the image of the Carrack class cruiser continued to rotate slowly.
Chapter 27: Wounds
“Give me a single reason why I should not kill you where you stand?” Nemesis asked icily.
Tarsi said nothing, he stood ramrod straight at attention, eyes straight ahead. Vash stood to his right, also at attention.
“Lord Nemesis…” Kittaine began. Nemesis held up a hand and did not stop staring at Tarsi and Vash with a glare that could kill.
“You allowed the Federation fleet to gain access to the Vulcan Science Academy where they proceeded to beam up the finest minds on Vulcan, and then as if that were not enough, they inserted a virus in the Vulcan memory cores that have erased every shred of data generated by our wormhole project in the last two weeks. You then failed to utterly crush the pitiful fleet that attacked Vulcan, there were 640 starships in total in the attack group, nearly HALF the size of the fleet we utterly decimated in the Battle of Sector 001! Most grievous of all was the loss of the Executioner with all hands to Federation contrived mass drivers.” Nemesis’ voice did not rise a single octave beyond the cold monotone that he had been speaking since Tarsi finished his report. The Battle of Vulcan was an unmitigated disaster. Tarsi knew it and Vash could barely acknowledge it.
Yes, they could point to the wrecks of 275 starships in orbit of Vulcan. They could point to the fact that the Federation fleet was forced to leave the field because they could not possibly overcome the Imperial presence on Vulcan despite the loss of the Executioner. But it all did not matter. They had lost.
Tarsi never knew defeat and it stung him to the core. Vash kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Tarsi had said nothing to defend himself since he gave his report. Vash wondered if his old friend was baiting death to avoid the humiliation of the defeat.
“Speak Captain!” Nemesis snapped.
Tarsi cleared his throat for a moment, never taking his eyes off the far distant wall in the main briefing room. Kittaine stared at the young captain. Tarsi was his guard dog, his warrior. No other stardestroyer captain that Kittaine had ever commanded showed the promise that this young man had. The killer instinct that drove him was a rarity even in the vast Imperial fleet. Tarsi was his greatest asset and he just may lose it now in Nemesis’ well deserved rage.
“I have no excuses, Lord Nemesis, nor will I insult you with a contrived one. I will not appeal to the Admiral for I have failed you both. The cold truth is I underestimated the Federation fleet commander and I paid the price for my lack of vision.”
“No, Captain, not yet, but you will.” Nemesis replied voice as cold as a tomb. Tarsi felt the grip on his throat but he did not waver, he did not flinch.
“I can only give you this solemn oath. I will personally hunt this man down and bring you the shattered hulk of his starship with him entombed within.” Tarsi said grimly and he finally turned from his gaze straight ahead to lock eyes with nemesis.
Nemesis returned the steady gaze with a hooded expression, Tarsi could feel the phantom fingers resting at his throat, ready to squeeze at a moment’s notice. The silence was palpable. Kittaine was torn, he was like a father to his commanders yet he could not intercede.
Nemesis suddenly turned away and waved a hand dismissively. The phantom grip disappeared. Tarsi only relaxed slightly. The anger still burned in his belly. He would avenge Jan-Her.
“Captain Tarsi, I will hold you to this vow. I am assigning you and the Vash to hunt this man to the ends of the universe and bring him back to me alive. This man must be taught the folly of opposing the Empire.”
“Alive?” Tarsi replied in confusion.
“Mara, play the message left for us in the Vulcan Institute.” Nemesis ordered and slid into a seat by Kittaine.
Mara flipped a control and a hologram sprang up on the table over everyone assembled. The image of James T. Kirk stood over them and he smiled softly. It was a cool confident smile. Kittaine frowned. This one was not even thinking of defeat.
“I am Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the United Federation of Planets. This strike against your forces is merely the opening round of a campaign that will be dedicated to defeating your Galactic Empire and its designs on my galaxy. We will not falter in our resolve, we will not tire in our dedication. We are joined with the Rebel Alliance of your galaxy in our single goal and purpose. This battle is merely the beginning. Your forces will not be safe wherever they are and we will remind our citizens that living under the yolk of oppression is not the way that free peoples should live. You have my message and my single demand, leave this galaxy at once, or lay down your arms and surrender. Otherwise we have nothing to discuss. I also know how tyrants like you function, any reprisals for actions on our part against Federation civilians will be responded to in the most vehement of manners. You will suffer ten fold what the innocents suffer. Remember, we’re not just fleets of ships, we’re people, billions of people spread throughout 150 member worlds. I’ve done the math, even with the population of the Romulan Star Empire you cannot hold on to the Federation and the Klingon Empire. There will be gaps in your security and I assure you we WILL find those gaps and you WILL be made to pay. This is my message and my demand.” The hologram of Kirk paused and he smiled broadly now as he leaned forward slightly, his eyes seemed to find everyone in the audience. “And in case none of you have heard by now: The Federation Lives.” The hologram winked out.
Tarsi’s face hardened as he realized who it was that had beaten him.
“Kirk.” He whispered.
Mara watched Nemesis closely. He had focused all his attention on a small detail that most of the others missed but she picked up right away. Kirk was wearing a silver lightsaber on his utility belt. It was prominently displayed at his waist. A lightsaber that she was nearly certain was the same one Nemesis had wielded when he was Luke Skywalker. He seemed mesmerized by it.
“That is a dangerous man.” Kittaine concluded.
“How so?” Mara asked.
“He’s not even contemplating defeat. In his mind he seriously believes that he has already won this war.” Nemesis replied quietly before Kittaine could answer.
Mara snorted.
“Isn’t overconfidence a weakness?”
“There’s a fine difference young lady between over confidence and dedication.” Kittaine replied.
“He doesn’t stand a chance.” Mara countered. “This is simple posturing for the benefit of his people.”
“Normally I would agree Mara but he has sent us another subtle message with this demand.” Nemesis replied.
Mara looked at Nemesis quizzically.
“He has not disseminated this throughout the Federation. Normally this would be used as propaganda by the Starfleet remnant to bolster morale but as far as our intelligence agents can tell, no one has seen or heard this message on any Federation world.”
“That’s a subtle message?”
“Yes, it means that he does not feel that he needs to bolster morale by spreading this message around. He is simply making this a private conversation, assuring us that he will strike at us in any way possible.”
“And the lightsaber?” She asked, not liking at all the tone Nemesis took with her. He sounded like a school teacher lecturing a child. She briefly enjoyed the expression of annoyance on his face.
“Obviously someone from our galaxy has given him that relic.”
“It ought to have a very powerful rallying effect for the Alliance troops under his command.” Mara replied.
“Be that as it may, he is to be hunted down and brought to me personally, is that understood, Captain?” Nemesis asked coldly.
“Understood, my lord.” Tarsi replied.
“You are now living on borrowed time, Captain Tarsi, your life is in Captain James T. Kirk’s hands. The longer he remains out of my custody the more I will feel the urge to discipline you for your gross incompetence at the Battle of Vulcan.” Nemesis added and Tarsi felt the fingers at his throat again, a light brush to reassure him that they were still there.
“I will not fail you, my lord. Captain James T. Kirk is as good as dead.”
Tarsi stormed out of the briefing room, Vash right behind him.
“That’s quite a situation you negotiated for us.” Vash said quietly as Tarsi kept on walking.
“I have no doubt that we will do our duties, Vash. Get back to your ship, I intend to be under way within the hour.”
“Under way where, Tarsi?”
“I’m going to find that bastard and I have some ideas where to start looking.”
“Very well.” Vash paused. “And where will you be?”
Tarsi entered a turbolift and regarded his old friend for a moment before answering.
“She’s in pain and I haven’t seen her since the battle. I owe it to her.”
“Of course.” Vash replied and nodded to his friend as the doors slid shut. He briefly wondered how they were going to find this Starfleet Captain. He also wondered how long they had until Lord Nemesis finally lost his patience and decided to ‘discipline’ them.
“You have to understand, sir. Her injuries were rather grievous. If the recovery teams got to her even a few minutes later she would most likely be dead.”
Tarsi ignored the worried physician and strode through the infirmary of the Emperor’s Will. Officers and men from the Relentless were filling a portion of this infirmary. More wounded were in other sections. Medical droids quietly moved among the wounded, tending to them.
He walked right up to a medical bed that was sealed off by a simple privacy screen. He hesitantly pushed it aside prepared for anything.
Captain Belladonna sat upright in her bed reading an after action report on a datapad. She quickly glanced up and froze for a moment. He smiled softly as he saw her. The left portion of her face was covered in a bacta soaked bandage, her right arm was also covered in a similar bandage. He noted the life support machinery that was only recently switched off. She had been in a coma for nearly a week.
“Belladonna…Illith” he said and walked over to her bedside. He hesitantly reached out to touch her hand. She looked up at him, eyes glistened for a moment as emotion welled up within her heart.
“Tarsi.” She replied softly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
“Are you well?” He asked her seriously.
She nodded slowly and examined the dashing young Captain. She would always view him that way ever since the first day they met. His bright blonde hair was always kept short in a military crew cut but his intense ice blue eyes never ceased to enthrall her. There were depths to this young man’s soul that she could only guess at when she looked into those eyes. Even when they were lovers, she could never get into his soul. His privacy was sacrosanct.
He returned her steady gaze, a yearning hidden behind the worried expression.
“They have ruined my face.” She whispered.
Tarsi shook his head and his free hand softly pushed aside a stray lock of hair.”
“No, Illith. They could not ruin your face. It is more beautiful then I remember.” He replied.
Belladonna shook her head and snorted.
“Did you know that I will probably lose my eye? The damage from the superheated metal and plasma was too much for the doctors to fully repair. They are waiting a few more days to see what the Bacta may be able to do.” She bit her lower lip for a moment to fight the strange mix of rage and grief that ate at her.
“I am looking like my ship now. Quite a pair we make, Tarsi. I’ve read the after action reports, my poor ship has been devastated by our stay in this forsaken galaxy.”
“I prefer to see it as the utter invincibility of the ship and her Captain. These primitives cannot destroy you.” He replied and slowly leaned in close to her. “I will avenge you, I will find this Kirk and I will bring you his heart on a plate. You have my word, Illith.”
Belladonna slowly turned her head to face him, lips only an inch apart but the heat between them was like a volcano.
“I would prefer you bring me your heart, and the rest of you back alive.”
He stared at her for a moment surprise in her eyes.
“When I lay on this bed, and they were working on me, I could feel myself slipping away and someone said your name. It brought me back. I snapped right back into my body because I felt this desire, an insatiable need to see you.”
Tarsi swallowed softly.
“When I saw the casualty reports and saw your name, I wanted to abandon my post, take my ship out of that damnable Klingon campaign and come here to be by your side.”
“You most certainly did not.” She whispered, their lips slowly coming closer together.
“No, I am a soldier of the empire. Duty is at the core of who I am. But now I feel something stronger than duty.”
“You’ve never said this before, Tarsi.” She replied, eyes burrowing into his.
“No more words.” He whispered.
They kissed for a long moment, his lips pressed in to hers and his body leaned over her on the medical bed. The sounds of the infirmary drifted away and there was only the sound of their heartbeats and breathing. There was an obvious hunger in their kiss, a desire to be one with one another that had been denied by time, circumstance and duty. But neither one would allow that to intrude on them. They were alone, in their own universe and there was nothing but their passion.
When their lips finally parted Tarsi and she exchanged a meaningful glance as an officer stepped into the private area.
“Branna.” Belladonna said with a soft smile.
“Little sister, I’ve brought you a present.” Branna replied and stopped short as he saw Tarsi sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Do tell, Captain.” Tarsi added with a wolfish grin.
Branna cleared his throat and motioned for someone to walk into the patient area. A young man stepped in, hair in slight disarray, a bruise was slowly healing underneath one eye but his uniform was immaculately kept. A Starfleet uniform.
“Any particular reason why you’ve brought this person in here?” Tarsi sneered.
“Tarsi.” Belladonna said softly and gripped his shoulder. Tarsi seemed to relax at her touch. Branna noted this with a quiet acceptance.
“This is a Starfleet doctor, one of their finest, if our records are correct. He is available to look after your wounds and see what he can accomplish.” Branna suggested hopefully.
“Considering the state of their technology and engineering principles I wonder if he is anything more than a witchdoctor. After all their ships routinely blow themselves up, what is he going to do, give Illi- Belladonna a stroke?”
The young man cleared his throat.
“My name is Doctor Julian Bashir. I must begin the examination and I will need a copy of her chart.” Bashir stated firmly, not flinching under Tarsi’s stony gaze.
“Of course, doctor, I’ve also brought you an assistant to assist you. It’s the oddest thing, but in our recovery efforts around Starfleet command we discovered this little trinket.” Branna held up a small handheld device. It resembled a wrist band of some kind.
“Imagine our surprise when we discovered this.” Branna said and placed the object on the floor and touched a control. Suddenly a hologram snapped on of a middle aged balding man dressed in a similar uniform to Bashir’s.
“Please state the nature of your medical emergency.” He stated simply then looked around for a moment, slightly disoriented. He saw Branna and his face fell.
“Oh, it’s you. I suppose you still want to play games with me or something. I’ll have you know that I’ve been declared a sentient being. You have no right treating me in this scandalous manner.” His eyes fell on Belladonna. Concern suddenly etched his face. “Oh, what happened here?”
“They have holographic doctors.” Branna exclaimed.
“Simpleton.” Tarsi snapped.
Branna frowned.
“No need to be rude, Tarsi. Branna always means well.”
“So I’m supposed to trust a holographic doctor and an enemy doctor with the life of a stardestroyer Captain?” Tarsi asked darkly.
“I am a doctor before anything else. It is my duty to provide medical assistance to anyone that needs it whatever uniform they wear.” Bashir replied wearily. DS9 had fallen to the Imperial offensive relatively early on. He had not seen any of the others after the station was stormed. When they discovered he was a doctor he was immediately transferred to Earth. He had been assisting the Imperials with the relatively minor wounded and had even been allowed to assist with Federation wounded as well. He had not slept in three days but they had not mistreated him in anyway.
“I believe that we should start with a series of Proregen shots to see if we can’t get a little more lividity out of her left side. That skin is not looking healthy.”
“I was thinking of the same thing, but I prefer a category of neurostem scans, preferably of her anterior lobe and perhaps and anaphasic cascade to detect any abnormalities at the cellular level.” Bashir replied.
“Right, right, but will the anaphasic cascade give us any problems when we start her on the Lonodrin series?” The Doctor asked seriously, occasionally eyeing Belladona.
“One thing at a time doctor.” Bashir replied with a soft smile.
“It seems you’re in good hands.” Branna said with a clap of his hands. Tarsi did not look convinced but he rose from her bedside and watched them intently for a moment.
“One thing doctor Bashir.” Tarsi said seriously. Bashir turned his head to regard the Imperial captain. “If you so much as cause her to have a migraine headache, then I hope pain is something you enjoy.” He said gravely.
“Threatening the physician treating your fellow officer is hardly a way to engender a stable doctor patient relationship, now shoo. We have work to do.” The Doctor replied making shooing motions with one hand while he ran a tricorder over her head.
Tarsi frowned and stormed away. Branna nodded to Belladonna. “You’ll see little sister, you’ll be fine.” He said cheerily.
“Branna, I’m older than you.” Belladonna replied with a half hearted frown.
Branna smiled and left as well. Belladonna looked at each of the Starfleet officers intent on her.
“Gentlemen, if I were both of you I would not be so worried about Tarsi or Branna as I would be about me.” She said with a frosty smile.
“You have to wonder about these people.” The doctor sighed.
Bashir remained silent as he continued working and wondering what had happened to them and the Federation that in a span of two weeks they were almost completely under occupation with no hope in sight.
He heard the gentle hiss of the door and he looked away as he heard someone enter. He remained silent, head resting against his chest, legs drawn up so that his knees were resting against his chin.
He could feel the newcomer’s looming presence over him but he remained silent, eyes down at the floor.
“Ochoa, what’s the matter? Look at me.”
Ochoa slowly looked up in the direction of the voice.
“What do you want Han? Come to gloat about another victory against the Federation?” Ochoa replied softly.
He heard the sharp intake of breath.
“What happened to you?” Han asked.
“Does it matter?” Ochoa asked, ignoring the steady throbbing underneath his right eye and the cold bite on his lip. He could feel the bruising on his left side as well.
“Who did this to you?” Han demanded and his voice seemed to slip. No longer the quiet young voice of a boy, but a voice that was accustomed to being obeyed, it was a voice of command and there was an edge there, an anger that he had not detected before in his new found friend.
“How am I supposed to know, I’m blind remember?” Ochoa replied. “All I know is that a few of your brave soldiers of the empire came in here a few hours ago and decided to extract a little revenge for what happened to the Executioner – whatever that means.” He could almost hear Han’s shoulders slump.
“I take it that the Federation found a way to hurt one of your mighty warships?” Ochoa asked wanly. He could feel Han’s sudden sharp gaze.
“We lost more than 9,000 officers and men on the Executioner. She was destroyed with all hands by some new Federation fleet commander. I think he calls himself Kirk.”
Ochoa sat up straighter as he heard this.
“James T. Kirk?” He asked.
“DO you know him?” Han asked and he could feel the sudden interest.
“I actually met him right before I was captured. The man is a legend. The finest Starfleet officer to ever wear the uniform. Hell, most of us went into Starfleet because of stories we heard about him.”
“I see.”
“You’ll excuse me if I’m in no mood to play.” Ochoa said after a moment of silence.
“You need medical attention.” Han noted.
“What I need is to be out of here and living my life as I was. This is no way to treat a prisoner, even an enemy prisoner.”
“I’ll call for a doctor.”
“How do you live with yourself?” Ochoa asked sharply.
“What?” Han replied angrily.
“How do you live with yourself, knowing that you serve in a military that routinely abuses, tortures and torments its helpless prisoners?”
“How dare you-“
“You’re a good man, I can feel that Han.” Han was suddenly silenced by those simple words. He could feel the tension in the air. “You are not like this, you are not a man that can treat people like this. I can feel it in you and you still pretend that this is alright.”
“You have no idea what you are saying.” Han interjected voice suddenly thick with emotion.
“Yes, I do. I’m a starship captain, we have to be good with people, its part of the job as well as being a diplomat. I’ve known you now since you’ve been in this galaxy and you are a good man, you’re trying to follow orders and do your best to believe in this empire but it bothers you, something about it bothers you to the core.” Ochoa noted.
“Shut up.”
“Go ahead, Han. Bury your head in the sand, but I have no reason to lie to you. I don’t need eyes to see that you are a good man struggling with his conscience.”
“Shut up!” Han roared. Ochoa felt something shove him back against the wall and he groaned as something cracked in his left side. He slowly sat up, slightly dazed. How could Han have pushed him? He was on the other side of the room, and it didn’t feel like hands.
The doors to the cell slid open.
“You, get a doctor here right away.”
“Han.” He called after him.
There was silence, but the door was obviously still open.
“What?” Han asked darkly.
“While they were bravely beating a blind man, one of them stopped the others. He said that they had to be careful because I was a favorite of Nemesis’. Did you know what that meant?” He asked, wishing fervently to see the young man standing in the doorway but only seeing utter darkness.
“I’m sure I don’t know.” Han replied softly and walked out of the cell. The door slid shut and Ochoa was left alone.
“You expect me to trust this..thing? In case you haven’t been keeping score she has led attacks against the Federation with the express purpose of assimilating the Federation and all its worlds.” Archer snapped.
The Borg Queen remained seated casually in the Defiant’s mess hall which was currently doubling as a meeting room. She watched the young captain with all the interest of a scientist dissecting an insect. Her eyes occasionally flickered over to Janeway and Seven of Nine.
“Captain, we have to entertain the possibility that the Borg are the only ones right now that are a credible threat to the Empire.” Janeway cautioned.
“Are you actually telling me that you’re in favor of this alliance?” Archer asked incredulously. Janeway pursed her lips for a moment, uncertain how to proceed. It was obvious that Archer was adamantly opposed to what the Borg Queen was offering, however she had granted them unprecedented access to the Borg data banks. It became painfully clear that the Federation was woefully outmatched by the Imperial forces. Janeway and the others watched as Federation world after Federation world simply surrendered in the face of such a challenge. Even Earth herself, the heart of the Federation had fallen in a matter of hours.
“Captain Archer, you are letting emotions cloud your judgment.” Seven added coolly.
Archer stared at her for a moment in a barely concealed expression of betrayal.
“Seven, after what they have done and what this one plans to do how can you sit there and tell me this is in any way a good idea.”
“Captain Archer, what the Borg offer is a chance at victory. The current chances that the Federation has of defeating the Empire are 0.005%, and that is taking into account all manner of radical probability shifts and giving the Federation every conceivable advantage.” The queen explained calmly, she had that mysterious smile on her lips, as if she were enjoying a private joke, most certainly at their expense.
“The chances that the Federation will even survive into the next two months are 2%. I would say that you truly have no choice.”
“You think you’re going to scare me by spouting those figures at me?” Archer asked sharply.
“The numbers are the numbers, only you humans have continually argued against cold hard facts, much to your detriment.”
“Captain, you saw the reports yourself, you saw the Battle of Sector 001, and our fleet stood absolutely no chance of winning. What we’re looking at is a chance to win a victory, or at the very least carve out a safe haven for our people.” Janeway pressed gently.
Archer’s eyes widened.
“Safe haven?! With the Borg as our gentle protectors?” Archer’s eyes narrowed on Janeway. “Did your time in the Delta Quadrant affect your perspective?” He asked.
Janeway flushed red.
“Captain, I would refrain from comments like that.” She snapped.
Archer whirled on the Queen.
“Tell me, your highness, what were the chances of a Federation victory after Wolf 359?”
The queen’s smile faltered ever so slightly.
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” She replied evenly.
Archer nodded.
“It has everything to do with it. You give me numbers to say that we should betray all our ideals and join with our mortal foe. I say that your numbers aren’t always accurate, are they?”
“After Wolf 359, we estimated the chances of assimilating Earth to be 97.589%”
“And how wrong you were.”
“Captain Archer, this is not Wolf 359, this is not a single cube, we’re facing a war fleet, well organized and they also have the resources of the Romulan Star Empire supporting them.” Seven replied. She gazed into his eyes with concern. She could see that he was unhappy with the turn of talks. However, the Borg queen had been very persuasive in making her case. She had shown them all the data they had at hand. There was no doubt.
“In the end, why are we even dealing with her? She’s been severed from the Collective, they acknowledged that she is such a hindrance and a failure that she was no longer a necessity. What can she offer to us?”
“That is a good question. You have been rather vague about getting the Collective to do anything now that you are no longer their queen.” Janeway noted.
The Borg queen nodded slowly.
“You are wise to doubt me, but we can deal with the Collective soon enough. You after all were the first species to ever negotiate a treaty with the Borg. You can do so again.” The Queen answered.
“So, you don’t have a foolproof way, you’re counting on our negotiation skills to talk the Borg into helping us. This is not what we were envisioning.” Janeway protested.
“The time will come when the Borg will look upon you and you will have no choice but to deal with them. You have to ask yourself a very important question. Do you want to face the Borg alone or with an ally that knows how they think, that can speak in a language that they understand.”
They were silent for a moment. Suddenly the Queen stiffened slightly and cocked her head as if listening to something far away. The others stared at her, waiting with an awful sense of anticipation.
“The Federation has just destroyed one of the Imperial Stardestroyers.” The Queen relayed to them with some amazement. Archer smiled triumphantly.
An intruder alert alarm went off. Archer whirled around drawing his phaser as a dozen Borg drones beamed into the mess hall.
“Do not resist. It will do you no good.” The queen stated gravely as more drones appeared. She smiled at Janeway. It was an awful smile. “It seems that the great Borg eye has turned its attentions to you.”
“Why?” Archer hissed as the drones surrounded them. He pointed his phaser at the nearest drone.
“Because now they are curious. How did an organization with .005% chance of defeating the empire destroy one of their warships, a feat that 2,000 Borg cubes could not do?”
The Borg advanced on them and the Queen slowly rose up.
“Now is the time to make a choice.”
A holoimage of a Carrack Class cruiser hung suspended over the briefing table. A Romulan shipyard encased the Carrack. The image slowly rotated so that all the assembled Captains could see it.
“She is the last light ship in their fleet. Damage is being repaired at the Rihkasha shipyard. You know the rest. I expect all your commands to be ready at 1300. It’s not going to be easy. Security will be tight, the Rommies have the 12th and 16th Home Guard fleets defending the shipyard. The 12th and 16th were instrumental in the defeat of the Dominion fleet at Gamma Hydra 10 and they spearheaded the Romulan advance into Cardassia prime, they are not afraid of casualties, boys and girls. They are hard core so let’s not underestimate the enemy.”
“Imperial presence?” One Captain asked.
“There are two fighter squadrons stationed as point defense for the shipyards, otherwise the Impies are regrouping after their defeat at Vulcan.” Some of the men at the table smiled.
“To add to our misery, the Rommies have also rotated elements of their most damaged warships to these shipyards for repair, so there will be elements of several fleets in addition to the defensive fleet.”
“The more the merrier.” One of the captains laughed.
Durant rose at the head of the table and looked at each of his captains.
“I think we’ve been quiet long enough, don’t you? It’s time we stole some of that thunder that Kirk’s been throwing and remind the Imperials that we are the Fist of the Federation, we are the Avenging Angel.”
The Captains nodded their heads in agreement, many smiling broadly.
“So, at 1300 we commence operation Hermes.”
One Captain raised his hand.
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, I know your predilection for Mythology and the like but what exactly does Hermes have to do with this operation?”
Durant nodded slowly, a smile spreading across his face.
“Many of you may not know this, but Hermes was not just a messenger of the gods and fleet of foot, which incidentally does tie in with this operation since we have to be quick and we are most definitely sending a message…but the important point here is that Hermes was the patron god of thieves.” He replied with a wolfish grin.
In front of him the image of the Carrack class cruiser continued to rotate slowly.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
I'M FIRST TO POST!
[EDIT]
Good to see Belladonna's OK.
Kirk's speech was well done
(reading last paragraph) HOLY SHIT, THEY'RE GONNA TRY AND PULLTHATOFF?!!?!
[EDIT]
Good to see Belladonna's OK.
Kirk's speech was well done
(reading last paragraph) HOLY SHIT, THEY'RE GONNA TRY AND PULLTHATOFF?!!?!
Last edited by Kuja on 2002-10-23 11:14pm, edited 1 time in total.
JADAFETWA
-
Luke Starkiller
- Jedi Knight
- Posts: 788
- Joined: 2002-08-08 08:55pm
- Location: Ottawa, Canada
Loved it Stravo! Now how long till Thrawn opens up a nice can of woop ass?
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
OMG, OMG, OMG!
Stravo you evil, sadistic genius! Did I just read what I thought I read? God I wanna say something but I don't want to spoil it for the others! Okay I am PMing you.
OMG!
Stravo you evil, sadistic genius! Did I just read what I thought I read? God I wanna say something but I don't want to spoil it for the others! Okay I am PMing you.
OMG!
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
heh...
Stravo, that is one ballsy move on the part of the shadow fleet.
I hope they pull it off. Feddies with military technology. My god is that a concept...
I hope they pull it off. Feddies with military technology. My god is that a concept...
I had a Bill Maher quote here. But fuck him for his white privelegy "joke".
All the rest? Too long.
All the rest? Too long.
I am a big fan of the shadow fleet...hey, wait a minute, I CREATED the shadow fleet. 
Anyway, I enjoy writing their scenes for one simple reason, they act like a true military without any of the Federation morals mumbo jumbo. They are the blackest ops...the avenging angels of the Federation and they are going to kick some...at least until a certain Grand Admiral comes along 
To paraphrase galadriel: "His coming is like the footsteps of doom to us." With that in mind, have some patience, because once he appears things are going to CHANGE dramtically, so I want to have some fun first.
BTW Alot of people are PMing me about a certain suspicion they have...please feel free to post your suspicions and know this...all the pieces are there that can answer or refute your questions. I promise, no tricks when it comes to these things.
I'm very happy with the positive feedback, I enjoyed writing this chapter especially because it reveals a human side to the Imperials that we don't see often.
Anyway, I enjoy writing their scenes for one simple reason, they act like a true military without any of the Federation morals mumbo jumbo. They are the blackest ops...the avenging angels of the Federation and they are going to kick some...at least until a certain Grand Admiral comes along To paraphrase galadriel: "His coming is like the footsteps of doom to us." With that in mind, have some patience, because once he appears things are going to CHANGE dramtically, so I want to have some fun first.
BTW Alot of people are PMing me about a certain suspicion they have...please feel free to post your suspicions and know this...all the pieces are there that can answer or refute your questions. I promise, no tricks when it comes to these things.
I'm very happy with the positive feedback, I enjoyed writing this chapter especially because it reveals a human side to the Imperials that we don't see often.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
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This updated sig brought to you by JME2
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Illuminatus Primus
- All Seeing Eye
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The Trek inhabitants couldn't possibly win......could they? I can't wait until the Empire proper stabilizes a wormhole and sends in the calvary...with the Grand Admiral himself. 
I can't wait until the Empire proper stabilizes a wormhole and sends in the calvary...with the Grand Admiral himself. "You know what the problem with Hollywood is. They make shit. Unbelievable. Unremarkable. Shit." - Gabriel Shear, Swordfish
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | Libertarian Socialist |
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | Libertarian Socialist |
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haas mark
- Official SD.Net Insomniac
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I will eventually read this...but I have to copy and paste to Word, first...so I can print it out...
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SDNC | WG | GDC | ACPATHNTDWATGODW | GALE | ISARMA | CotK: [mew]
Formerly verilon
R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero, 09 October 1967 - 13 November 2005
Hot Pants à la Zaia | BotM Lord Monkey Mod OOK!
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Formerly verilon
R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero, 09 October 1967 - 13 November 2005
Okay Stravo here is my suspiscion; Han is Luke's conscience! If this story takes place after TESB, then Han is still frozen at Jabba's, and the 'Han' Oocha is talking to is Darth Nemisis having a fit of conscience! But my question is; What does a certain Emperor's Hand think of Darth Nemisis' questionable stability on this issue?
And please bring in Thrawn soon, I would like to see how you write him.
And please bring in Thrawn soon, I would like to see how you write him.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
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Rightous Fist Of Heaven
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Crown: Now that i think of your theory...i think that you are very much right. The latest chapter suggested that "Han" used the force to shove Ochoa angainst the wall.
Hell "Han" IS NEMESIS OR LUKE!
The shadow fleet is getting pretty cocky...they are gonna steal an imperial ship??
Hell "Han" IS NEMESIS OR LUKE!
The shadow fleet is getting pretty cocky...they are gonna steal an imperial ship??
"The ones they built at the height of nuclear weapons could knock the earth out of its orbit" - Physics expert Envy in reference to the hydrogen bombs built during the cold war.
I must confess that I wasn't the brightest crayon in the box on that one, Stravo told me that Mark S beat me to that one ages ago!
Last edited by Crown on 2002-10-25 01:40am, edited 1 time in total.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
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willburns84
- Padawan Learner
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Yes! The Shadow Fleet is going to return.
Hmmm, I sense that the first order of business for Thrawn his hunting down the Shadow Fleet with his usual efficiency...
Hmmm, I sense that the first order of business for Thrawn his hunting down the Shadow Fleet with his usual efficiency...
"Fleet admirals have it made. They only have to worry about the success of their subordinates, their Moff, and guys whose name beings with Lord."
-Captain Seledrood (deceased)
"Iron within! Iron without!"
-Captain Seledrood (deceased)
"Iron within! Iron without!"
Nemenis will become INSANE if he hears this...Stravo wrote: ...but the important point here is that Hermes was the patron god of thieves.” He replied with a wolfish grin.
In front of him the image of the Carrack class cruiser continued to rotate slowly.
First they destroy his only SSD, then someone STEALS a Carrack cruiser !
nice, very nice,let battle commence once again
"a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic"-Joseph Stalin
"No plan survives contact with the enemy"-Helmuth Von Moltke
"Women prefer stories about one person dying slowly. Men prefer stories of many people dying quickly."-Niles from Frasier.
"No plan survives contact with the enemy"-Helmuth Von Moltke
"Women prefer stories about one person dying slowly. Men prefer stories of many people dying quickly."-Niles from Frasier.
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Luke Starkiller
- Jedi Knight
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Um, the SSD is the Emperor's Will, the Executioner was an ISD.HRogge wrote:Nemenis will become INSANE if he hears this...Stravo wrote: ...but the important point here is that Hermes was the patron god of thieves.” He replied with a wolfish grin.
In front of him the image of the Carrack class cruiser continued to rotate slowly.
First they destroy his only SSD, then someone STEALS a Carrack cruiser !
What kind of dark wizard in league with nameless forces of primordial evil ARE you that you can't even make a successful sanity check versus BOREDOM? - Red Mage
*ARG* I had the wrong shipname in mind !Luke Starkiller wrote:Um, the SSD is the Emperor's Will, the Executioner was an ISD.HRogge wrote:Nemenis will become INSANE if he hears this...Stravo wrote: ...but the important point here is that Hermes was the patron god of thieves.” He replied with a wolfish grin.
In front of him the image of the Carrack class cruiser continued to rotate slowly.
First they destroy his only SSD, then someone STEALS a Carrack cruiser !
First: Yay! HoloDoc was one of the few saving graces of that series.Stravo wrote:I'm supposed to trust a holographic doctor and an enemy doctor with the life of a stardestroyer Captain," Tarsi asked darkly.
"I am a doctor before anything else. It is my duty to provide medical assistance to anyone that needs it whatever uniform they wear," Bashir replied wearily. DS9 had fallen to the Imperial offensive relatively early on. He had not seen any of the others after the station was stormed. When they discovered he was a doctor he was immediately transferred to Earth. He had been assisting the Imperials with the relatively minor wounded and had even been allowed to assist with Federation wounded as well. He had not slept in three days but they had not mistreated him in anyway.
"I believe that we should start with a series of Proregen shots to see if we can't get a little more lividity out of her left side. That skin is not looking healthy."
"I was thinking of the same thing, but I prefer a category of neurostem scans, preferably of her anterior lobe and perhaps and anaphasic cascade to detect any abnormalities at the cellular level," Bashir replied.
"Right, right, but will the anaphasic cascade give us any problems when we start her on the Lonodrin series?" The Doctor asked seriously, occasionally eyeing Belladona.
"One thing at a time doctor." Bashir replied with a soft smile.
Second: Perfectly babbelized!
Third: Back to reading...
Edit In:
Best. Chapter. Yet.
Holo Doc, Tarsi/Belladonna/Branna three way (very nice with the humanizing there, I loved it!), Shadow Fleet (w00t!), Kirk taunting Nemesis, and the theory of "Han" being Luke in ethereal disguise (which makes sense, excellent deductions, y'all!) - what's not to love?
Oh, one more thing: I noticed you dethroned the Queen. This bodes very ill for all involved. Will you be re-rewriting the Borg back to the original idea? Excellent, excellent, excellent move.
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Master of Ossus
- Darkest Knight
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That's the key. If you enjoy writing it, it's probably going to be very good. Your enthusiasm for a story really does transfer into the readers. This goes for all literature, and all writers, but Stravo exemplifies it.Stravo wrote: I enjoyed writing this chapter especially because it reveals a human side to the Imperials that we don't see often.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
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NecronLord
- Harbinger of Doom
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Dethroned queen, good, make the borg a remotely credible threat.
Stealing a Carrack? IIRC they have a self destruct to prevent that kind of thing?
HoloDoc
Stealing a Carrack? IIRC they have a self destruct to prevent that kind of thing?
HoloDoc
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
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Typhonis 1
- Rabid Monkey Scientist
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