How about another fanfic (Manifest Destiny)
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Singular Quartet
- Sith Marauder
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Nah. People do weird things wehen they're angry, and most of it is subconcious. It sorta seemed normal (Then again, I am one of the few people who understnads (sorta) SE lain, so don't take my opinion to much.)Mark S wrote:So you didn't think the whole "giant roaring head" thing was a bit much?
But yeah. Very nice, keep it up!
Thanks guys.
ggs: Yeah, I always thought that the Queen was a bastardization of the Borg. They had such a good, inhuman enemy going there and they fucked it up by adding a leader to a collective. A leader to a society of equally linked minds?
ggs: Yeah, I always thought that the Queen was a bastardization of the Borg. They had such a good, inhuman enemy going there and they fucked it up by adding a leader to a collective. A leader to a society of equally linked minds?
Writer's Guild 'Ghost in the Machine'/Decepticon 'Devastator'/BOTM 'Space Ape'/Justice League 'The Tick'
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
*bump* *hint, hint*
Also I agree, I never understood how the Borg could be a 'collective' with a leader, shouldn't they then be a 'hive'?
Also I agree, I never understood how the Borg could be a 'collective' with a leader, shouldn't they then be a 'hive'?
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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Faram
- Bastard Operator from Hell
- Posts: 5271
- Joined: 2002-07-04 07:39am
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*BUMP*
[img=right]http://hem.bredband.net/b217293/warsaban.gif[/img]
"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. ... If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. ... If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" -Epicurus
Fear is the mother of all gods.
Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods. -Lucretius
"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. ... If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. ... If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" -Epicurus
Fear is the mother of all gods.
Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods. -Lucretius
Part 18
"So be it."
Lightning stretched out from the girl's drone to engulf the figure of the Queen and send it spinning to the back of the chamber. Out side, the same scene played out on a grander scale. Force lightning arced across the emptiness to crackle and jump from one cube to another. Borg stopped dead as they were hit. Whole lines of ships were sent to ruin by the horrendous power of the Force.
The girl reveled in the destruction as she butchered her opposition. She wallowed in it. She drenched herself in the sheer power that ripped through her. Blinding rage was all that she felt and she used it, she channeled it.
She wasn't even bothering to take the cubes as her own now. They had gone too far with her. She had submerged too far into hate. There would be no mercy. There could be no relief. Not for the Borg.
But the cyborgs would not be daunted. Rallying together, they presented a united front and struck with the experience of millennia. Sending a veritable sheet of energy before them, the Borg rushed to englobe their enemy. At the same time, a smaller force broke away in an attempt to clear and protect one of their remaining transwarp gateways. They only needed one.
The main force pushed ahead, tearing Mai-Men's ships to pieces and using their tractor beams to create a debris shield. It was a tactic they had learned from this enemy and would use to full effect. Even their own destroyed ships were callously plowed forward to guard their advance.
The broken apprentice too, pushed back. Seething with pain at her losses and rage at her failure with the Queen, the girl sent her craft into the front line with full force. But she could not control the emotions that pounded through her mind and was having trouble keeping her concentration. She had never been a tactician and would never have dreamed of waging a battle of such proportions. She didn't think, only acted. It was taking its toll.
With the loss of concentration the breath-taking tendrils of Force energy ceased as well. Only the great invisible hand remained to slow and crush the cubes of the Collective. But the Borg seemed to care little for this now. If their ships stopped they would throw out their tractor beams and anchor themselves to passing enemies. When they began to inexplicably collapse, they continued firing until the very end. The Collective could still not explain this power and at this point they could no longer afford to divert resources to trying. This battle must be won and the subverted cubes must be destroyed.
Try as she might, Mai could not force the lightning to obey her any longer. The lack of control brought with it confusion. The confusion brought fear. Instinctively falling back on more mundane weapons, the girl blasted out with everything she had. Her fear increased ten fold when her salvos had little to no effect.
If the Borg, as a group, had any inclination to laugh, it would have. It had taken slightly longer than usual, but they had managed to perform that which had been their most valuable trait. They had adapted. Never in their existence had they been forced to adapt to their own weapons, but in the end, that trait served them yet again. As the green energy streams washed impotently over their shields, the Collective pressed the attack with new vigor.
Cubes flew after each other in twisting spirals. Spinning and dancing through derelict brethren, they fired their weapons and struck out with the Force as they could. The two sides fought bitterly against each other, neither allowing any mistake to go unpunished. Many as one against one in many. Cold reason again wild instinct.
Mai-Men flew at her opponent from all angles, trusting her feelings as she had always done. Smashing into the Borg's impeccable lines, she tried to squeeze her way into every opening she could find only to be torn into fragments by unrelenting energy fire. She was losing cubes by the hundreds, losing ground everywhere.
At the remaining conduit entrances, the girl had poured forth all of her effort and had collapsed all but two of the gateways. With these, the Borg dug themselves in and would not be brought down. Not until their reenforcements had arrived that is.
The Jedi's apprentice sensed the impending doom of those gates and shifted all of her forces to seeing their destruction. It was a mistake that cost her dearly. As she rushed to mash her ships into Collective fronts, that were ten deep in some places, her enemy surrounded her with a mechanical calm worthy of an artificial intelligence. When all the pieces were in place, the cyborgs let loose with everything they had.
Mai-Men's scream echoed through the galaxy to send shivers down the spines of those as far away as the Alpha Quadrant and nightmares into the dreams of children of all species. There were some, however, that could not help but take more notice; A small grey creature sitting alone on Earth raised his snouted face to the stars and nodded slowly; drifting in space, Commander Bala staggered in his quarters and knelt to meditate on what he had just felt; Welzen Pellax paused briefly in the explanation he gave of his new powers to his newest found agent, clutched his chest for a moment and continued; Jones inhaled deeply, pushed the sudden feeling from his thoughts, took one more look at the cold steel of the dagger in his hand, and plunged it into the throat of his sleeping victim. In a lonely vessel streaking through hyperspace, a lonely woman closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to keep her focus on the task at hand. Of all those that felt the inexplicable chill, she was the only to truly understand.
Cubes and spheres exploded in all directions like a super nova. In the epicenter, the broken remains of Mai-Men drifted silently. A slow, deliberate exhalation, simultaneously from all of her drones contributed to the carbon dioxide levels of her cubes as she pulled herself together. She was much smaller now, much more easily able to focus on all that was occurring, much more in control. In the void, her enemy was pulling itself together on a more literal level.
The girl used her moment's respite to channel her anger and connect with the Dark Side. It filled her, excited her for more battle and whispered to her what was about to happen and what her next course of action should be. She smiled as the images blinked into her mind. Things were about to happen. She steadied herself.
What was left of the invading armada staggered away from the transwarp openings, seemingly trying to clear the ship's graveyard before going to warp, as the Borg reorganized itself for a final devastating attack. They would surround the gates and from there, wipe the space around Unimatrix 01 clean. Their reenforcements would be more than enough to easily take the enemy.
Those reenforcements spilled forth from the gateways as the Collective took position around it. The fleeing ships had not yet made it to safety and escape and the battle weary Borg predicted their immanent and effortless destruction. They had no idea what was about to happen. They could not have.
The new cubes, bursting from transwarp into what they knew would be a war zone, began firing on anything not directly linked to their thoughts. Having severed themselves from everything that they were not completely sure was pure, they were unable to tell which side had sent for them. As a result, many of the haggard Collective were converted into expanding clouds of plasma, those with functional shields were torn apart piece by piece.
To their own end, the defenders, believing that their clever foe had managed to bring in its own forces, laid into the new targets with deadly efficiency. The two remaining gateways soon became clogged with the wreckage of hundreds of the Borg's finest. They poured out beam upon beam at their own vessels, unwittingly burning away the allies they had so desperately called.
Mai laughed insanely as she watched. The Borg had set up their own destruction. They had broken themselves apart and now could not tell her from themselves. How would they? They had never been faced with this before. They had never known friendly fire. And in not knowing it, they would never think of trying to avoid it. Such was the way of the Collective. Nothing was a problem to be addressed until it was being faced.
She watched as her enemy did her work for her and reveled in the power and insight the Force gave her. She knew the Borg would fight themselves. She knew they would eventually figure out what had happened. She knew exactly what to do once that happened. How had she not known these things sooner, she wondered.
The combat was now carrying itself toward her position. She continued to observe and made no move one way or the other, drifting now only, as if dead in space. A cube flew at her through the void, and than another. One of the fresher ships followed closely behind, trying to break through the shielding of its prey. As the three drew closer, Mai struck out with the baneful lightning that had returned to her. Like a spider laying in wait, she lashed, revealing herself and all that she had brought about.
In the span of seconds the two Collectives, separated by their mutual fear of possession, analyzed the facts and opened their thoughts to each other. It was too late however. They had made brutal work of their fellow drones and were now little better off than they had been before.
Now, together once again, the Borg charged to overwhelm Mai-Men's prostrate forces. She did nothing to stop them now. Wait, her feelings told her. Wait for the proper time. Cubes came in from all vectors and still she made no move.
Curious at the inactivity, the Collective held their guns and bolstered their positions. There were definitely signs of life still on board, perhaps the girl had been broken mentally? They let loose on the drifting ships, vapourizing dozens, and still there was no retaliation. The curiosity grew.
One by one, drones were beamed on to the seemingly derelict craft, scanning them, observing first hand. They could report only more inertness. Nothing moved on the cubes, nothing functioned accept the meagerest of life-support and sensory systems. All was still.
It was a trap. Thousands of minds in the Collective shouted the opinion. It was an obvious trap. But if it was a trap, why had it not been sprung yet? Surely they were all in the perfect position. Past contact taught that this enemy was no longer mentally stable enough for setting traps. More observation would be needed. More debate was required.
Days passed and there continued to be nothing. Unimatrix 01 was purged and retaken and still there was nothing. The enemy armada was brought down to a mere hundred or so ships and still there was nothing. The galaxy spun, the universe expanded, and yet the unending gaze of the Borg held their foe, unblinkingly. There was no change.
No resistance has been met.
All drones move freely through subverted cubes.
Subverted drones continue attempts to link with Collective.
Probability of trap: 10%.
Reassimilate remaining subverted forces.
As the connection was opened into the minds of millions of Borg drones, Mai-Men laughed triumphantly. She flooded into them in a torrent, once again drowning all thought that was not her own. So swift and complete was the mental attack that not even the beginnings of a distress signal was able to be sent. The Borg of Unimatrix 01 fell as one and as one they took up the laugh.
* * *
Jenna stared into the kaleidoscope of hyperspace amid the repetitious bleating of the navicomputer. It screamed its warning in constant, irritating reminder that she had disengaged its control. She had no charts of this space and it was of no use to her. She traveled by instinct and faith alone. Faith in the Force.
There was an urgency that fueled her now. Turmoil boiled around her fallen apprentice and cried out to her like an infant. She had to reach her. One way or the other, she had to ensure that the madness surrounding Mai-Men was stopped.
For seemingly no reason, the Jedi reached forward and pushed the control stick of the hyperdrive. The mottled blue background in her front windscreen condensed into streaking white lines, which in turn shrank to the burning dots of distant stars. The brightest of these points stood out to starboard like a glaring signal for her to follow. She had dropped back into normal space just at the edge of its system's oort cloud.
She was out there. Nursing herself back to health amid the particles and radiation of the void, she waited. The girl was waiting for her, Jenna thought. Hopefully she would be able to find some way, any way, to bring reason to the chaos.
"Mai," she spoke aloud, sending the words through the Force as they moved through the air of the cockpit. "Calm your thoughts. Clear them. You have to end this."
In system, millions of cybernetic heads turned to regard the speaker. Small and distant, the exact location of the ship was known even before sensors were trained on it. It had arrived just as had been foreseen.
"Master," the reply thundered. "You have finally come."
"Yes, young one. I thought you had been lost but would not forget about you." The older woman spoke truthfully. She had been able to think of little else since their parting. "I have come to bring you back."
"You have come to destroy me," Mai said flatly. Convoluted thoughts and feelings belayed the calm monotone.
The smooth scout ship flew swiftly forward, bridging the vast gap between the two beings. The weapons systems were powered off and the shields were down. There was no need for them. That kind of defense would be useless now.
The craft came to drift mere kilometers from a veritable wall of technology. It was tiny and insignificant. It was an ant beside a cosmic boot. Somehow, the little speck, almost indistinguishable from the colourless backdrop, held its own. It had a style and dignity that would not be overshadowed by the stark functionality before it.
"You are not in your right mind," Jenna returned. "I will do what I must. I don't want to destroy you."
A laugh rolled through the Force that nearly bowled the Jedi over. Outside, her ship was quickly enveloped by massive cubes. The light of the system's star was completely blotted out. The woman sat calmly in the artificial light of her the cabin, waiting for the storm to subside.
"I'm glad you don't want to, Master." the multi-entity chuckled. "I would hate to destroy you as well."
With a pause, she continued. "I may sense that you're here to destroy me but that doesn't mean I think you can."
"You have grown confident, my young apprentice."
"I have grown powerful."
"No, you haven't GROWN powerful," the knight observed passively. "You've stolen that power. And with it, the lives of millions of beings."
"Stolen!?" Mai-Men shouted the words with indignation. "They were drones! They had no lives to begin with!"
The girl's mood suddenly shifted from anger to excitement. "You can't imagine the power, Master. I can see the future, the past, everything all at once. I crushed my enemies in body and mind! They could not stand against me!"
"Those are the ways of the Dark Side." The words came out as a lecture that had been given a thousand times before. "Clear your troubled mind and calm yourself and you will know I am right."
"Perhaps they are," Mai answered with an eerie quiet. "But when I was alone, when I was being dissected and cut apart limp by limp, when the only thoughts that I could hear were the constant demands of the Borg, the Dark Side was the only ally to come to my aid. It was the only thing that saved me."
"You have not been saved, padawan. You are only deeper in distress."
Lightning stretched out from the girl's drone to engulf the figure of the Queen and send it spinning to the back of the chamber. Out side, the same scene played out on a grander scale. Force lightning arced across the emptiness to crackle and jump from one cube to another. Borg stopped dead as they were hit. Whole lines of ships were sent to ruin by the horrendous power of the Force.
The girl reveled in the destruction as she butchered her opposition. She wallowed in it. She drenched herself in the sheer power that ripped through her. Blinding rage was all that she felt and she used it, she channeled it.
She wasn't even bothering to take the cubes as her own now. They had gone too far with her. She had submerged too far into hate. There would be no mercy. There could be no relief. Not for the Borg.
But the cyborgs would not be daunted. Rallying together, they presented a united front and struck with the experience of millennia. Sending a veritable sheet of energy before them, the Borg rushed to englobe their enemy. At the same time, a smaller force broke away in an attempt to clear and protect one of their remaining transwarp gateways. They only needed one.
The main force pushed ahead, tearing Mai-Men's ships to pieces and using their tractor beams to create a debris shield. It was a tactic they had learned from this enemy and would use to full effect. Even their own destroyed ships were callously plowed forward to guard their advance.
The broken apprentice too, pushed back. Seething with pain at her losses and rage at her failure with the Queen, the girl sent her craft into the front line with full force. But she could not control the emotions that pounded through her mind and was having trouble keeping her concentration. She had never been a tactician and would never have dreamed of waging a battle of such proportions. She didn't think, only acted. It was taking its toll.
With the loss of concentration the breath-taking tendrils of Force energy ceased as well. Only the great invisible hand remained to slow and crush the cubes of the Collective. But the Borg seemed to care little for this now. If their ships stopped they would throw out their tractor beams and anchor themselves to passing enemies. When they began to inexplicably collapse, they continued firing until the very end. The Collective could still not explain this power and at this point they could no longer afford to divert resources to trying. This battle must be won and the subverted cubes must be destroyed.
Try as she might, Mai could not force the lightning to obey her any longer. The lack of control brought with it confusion. The confusion brought fear. Instinctively falling back on more mundane weapons, the girl blasted out with everything she had. Her fear increased ten fold when her salvos had little to no effect.
If the Borg, as a group, had any inclination to laugh, it would have. It had taken slightly longer than usual, but they had managed to perform that which had been their most valuable trait. They had adapted. Never in their existence had they been forced to adapt to their own weapons, but in the end, that trait served them yet again. As the green energy streams washed impotently over their shields, the Collective pressed the attack with new vigor.
Cubes flew after each other in twisting spirals. Spinning and dancing through derelict brethren, they fired their weapons and struck out with the Force as they could. The two sides fought bitterly against each other, neither allowing any mistake to go unpunished. Many as one against one in many. Cold reason again wild instinct.
Mai-Men flew at her opponent from all angles, trusting her feelings as she had always done. Smashing into the Borg's impeccable lines, she tried to squeeze her way into every opening she could find only to be torn into fragments by unrelenting energy fire. She was losing cubes by the hundreds, losing ground everywhere.
At the remaining conduit entrances, the girl had poured forth all of her effort and had collapsed all but two of the gateways. With these, the Borg dug themselves in and would not be brought down. Not until their reenforcements had arrived that is.
The Jedi's apprentice sensed the impending doom of those gates and shifted all of her forces to seeing their destruction. It was a mistake that cost her dearly. As she rushed to mash her ships into Collective fronts, that were ten deep in some places, her enemy surrounded her with a mechanical calm worthy of an artificial intelligence. When all the pieces were in place, the cyborgs let loose with everything they had.
Mai-Men's scream echoed through the galaxy to send shivers down the spines of those as far away as the Alpha Quadrant and nightmares into the dreams of children of all species. There were some, however, that could not help but take more notice; A small grey creature sitting alone on Earth raised his snouted face to the stars and nodded slowly; drifting in space, Commander Bala staggered in his quarters and knelt to meditate on what he had just felt; Welzen Pellax paused briefly in the explanation he gave of his new powers to his newest found agent, clutched his chest for a moment and continued; Jones inhaled deeply, pushed the sudden feeling from his thoughts, took one more look at the cold steel of the dagger in his hand, and plunged it into the throat of his sleeping victim. In a lonely vessel streaking through hyperspace, a lonely woman closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to keep her focus on the task at hand. Of all those that felt the inexplicable chill, she was the only to truly understand.
Cubes and spheres exploded in all directions like a super nova. In the epicenter, the broken remains of Mai-Men drifted silently. A slow, deliberate exhalation, simultaneously from all of her drones contributed to the carbon dioxide levels of her cubes as she pulled herself together. She was much smaller now, much more easily able to focus on all that was occurring, much more in control. In the void, her enemy was pulling itself together on a more literal level.
The girl used her moment's respite to channel her anger and connect with the Dark Side. It filled her, excited her for more battle and whispered to her what was about to happen and what her next course of action should be. She smiled as the images blinked into her mind. Things were about to happen. She steadied herself.
What was left of the invading armada staggered away from the transwarp openings, seemingly trying to clear the ship's graveyard before going to warp, as the Borg reorganized itself for a final devastating attack. They would surround the gates and from there, wipe the space around Unimatrix 01 clean. Their reenforcements would be more than enough to easily take the enemy.
Those reenforcements spilled forth from the gateways as the Collective took position around it. The fleeing ships had not yet made it to safety and escape and the battle weary Borg predicted their immanent and effortless destruction. They had no idea what was about to happen. They could not have.
The new cubes, bursting from transwarp into what they knew would be a war zone, began firing on anything not directly linked to their thoughts. Having severed themselves from everything that they were not completely sure was pure, they were unable to tell which side had sent for them. As a result, many of the haggard Collective were converted into expanding clouds of plasma, those with functional shields were torn apart piece by piece.
To their own end, the defenders, believing that their clever foe had managed to bring in its own forces, laid into the new targets with deadly efficiency. The two remaining gateways soon became clogged with the wreckage of hundreds of the Borg's finest. They poured out beam upon beam at their own vessels, unwittingly burning away the allies they had so desperately called.
Mai laughed insanely as she watched. The Borg had set up their own destruction. They had broken themselves apart and now could not tell her from themselves. How would they? They had never been faced with this before. They had never known friendly fire. And in not knowing it, they would never think of trying to avoid it. Such was the way of the Collective. Nothing was a problem to be addressed until it was being faced.
She watched as her enemy did her work for her and reveled in the power and insight the Force gave her. She knew the Borg would fight themselves. She knew they would eventually figure out what had happened. She knew exactly what to do once that happened. How had she not known these things sooner, she wondered.
The combat was now carrying itself toward her position. She continued to observe and made no move one way or the other, drifting now only, as if dead in space. A cube flew at her through the void, and than another. One of the fresher ships followed closely behind, trying to break through the shielding of its prey. As the three drew closer, Mai struck out with the baneful lightning that had returned to her. Like a spider laying in wait, she lashed, revealing herself and all that she had brought about.
In the span of seconds the two Collectives, separated by their mutual fear of possession, analyzed the facts and opened their thoughts to each other. It was too late however. They had made brutal work of their fellow drones and were now little better off than they had been before.
Now, together once again, the Borg charged to overwhelm Mai-Men's prostrate forces. She did nothing to stop them now. Wait, her feelings told her. Wait for the proper time. Cubes came in from all vectors and still she made no move.
Curious at the inactivity, the Collective held their guns and bolstered their positions. There were definitely signs of life still on board, perhaps the girl had been broken mentally? They let loose on the drifting ships, vapourizing dozens, and still there was no retaliation. The curiosity grew.
One by one, drones were beamed on to the seemingly derelict craft, scanning them, observing first hand. They could report only more inertness. Nothing moved on the cubes, nothing functioned accept the meagerest of life-support and sensory systems. All was still.
It was a trap. Thousands of minds in the Collective shouted the opinion. It was an obvious trap. But if it was a trap, why had it not been sprung yet? Surely they were all in the perfect position. Past contact taught that this enemy was no longer mentally stable enough for setting traps. More observation would be needed. More debate was required.
Days passed and there continued to be nothing. Unimatrix 01 was purged and retaken and still there was nothing. The enemy armada was brought down to a mere hundred or so ships and still there was nothing. The galaxy spun, the universe expanded, and yet the unending gaze of the Borg held their foe, unblinkingly. There was no change.
No resistance has been met.
All drones move freely through subverted cubes.
Subverted drones continue attempts to link with Collective.
Probability of trap: 10%.
Reassimilate remaining subverted forces.
As the connection was opened into the minds of millions of Borg drones, Mai-Men laughed triumphantly. She flooded into them in a torrent, once again drowning all thought that was not her own. So swift and complete was the mental attack that not even the beginnings of a distress signal was able to be sent. The Borg of Unimatrix 01 fell as one and as one they took up the laugh.
* * *
Jenna stared into the kaleidoscope of hyperspace amid the repetitious bleating of the navicomputer. It screamed its warning in constant, irritating reminder that she had disengaged its control. She had no charts of this space and it was of no use to her. She traveled by instinct and faith alone. Faith in the Force.
There was an urgency that fueled her now. Turmoil boiled around her fallen apprentice and cried out to her like an infant. She had to reach her. One way or the other, she had to ensure that the madness surrounding Mai-Men was stopped.
For seemingly no reason, the Jedi reached forward and pushed the control stick of the hyperdrive. The mottled blue background in her front windscreen condensed into streaking white lines, which in turn shrank to the burning dots of distant stars. The brightest of these points stood out to starboard like a glaring signal for her to follow. She had dropped back into normal space just at the edge of its system's oort cloud.
She was out there. Nursing herself back to health amid the particles and radiation of the void, she waited. The girl was waiting for her, Jenna thought. Hopefully she would be able to find some way, any way, to bring reason to the chaos.
"Mai," she spoke aloud, sending the words through the Force as they moved through the air of the cockpit. "Calm your thoughts. Clear them. You have to end this."
In system, millions of cybernetic heads turned to regard the speaker. Small and distant, the exact location of the ship was known even before sensors were trained on it. It had arrived just as had been foreseen.
"Master," the reply thundered. "You have finally come."
"Yes, young one. I thought you had been lost but would not forget about you." The older woman spoke truthfully. She had been able to think of little else since their parting. "I have come to bring you back."
"You have come to destroy me," Mai said flatly. Convoluted thoughts and feelings belayed the calm monotone.
The smooth scout ship flew swiftly forward, bridging the vast gap between the two beings. The weapons systems were powered off and the shields were down. There was no need for them. That kind of defense would be useless now.
The craft came to drift mere kilometers from a veritable wall of technology. It was tiny and insignificant. It was an ant beside a cosmic boot. Somehow, the little speck, almost indistinguishable from the colourless backdrop, held its own. It had a style and dignity that would not be overshadowed by the stark functionality before it.
"You are not in your right mind," Jenna returned. "I will do what I must. I don't want to destroy you."
A laugh rolled through the Force that nearly bowled the Jedi over. Outside, her ship was quickly enveloped by massive cubes. The light of the system's star was completely blotted out. The woman sat calmly in the artificial light of her the cabin, waiting for the storm to subside.
"I'm glad you don't want to, Master." the multi-entity chuckled. "I would hate to destroy you as well."
With a pause, she continued. "I may sense that you're here to destroy me but that doesn't mean I think you can."
"You have grown confident, my young apprentice."
"I have grown powerful."
"No, you haven't GROWN powerful," the knight observed passively. "You've stolen that power. And with it, the lives of millions of beings."
"Stolen!?" Mai-Men shouted the words with indignation. "They were drones! They had no lives to begin with!"
The girl's mood suddenly shifted from anger to excitement. "You can't imagine the power, Master. I can see the future, the past, everything all at once. I crushed my enemies in body and mind! They could not stand against me!"
"Those are the ways of the Dark Side." The words came out as a lecture that had been given a thousand times before. "Clear your troubled mind and calm yourself and you will know I am right."
"Perhaps they are," Mai answered with an eerie quiet. "But when I was alone, when I was being dissected and cut apart limp by limp, when the only thoughts that I could hear were the constant demands of the Borg, the Dark Side was the only ally to come to my aid. It was the only thing that saved me."
"You have not been saved, padawan. You are only deeper in distress."
Writer's Guild 'Ghost in the Machine'/Decepticon 'Devastator'/BOTM 'Space Ape'/Justice League 'The Tick'
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
FIRST TO POST!!!!
Wow... wow!
Mark S that was just.... wow.
Loved it!
Wow... wow!
Mark S that was just.... wow.
Loved it!
Last edited by Crown on 2002-10-28 10:04pm, 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'
DAMN YOU TO HELL AND BURN THERE FOR ALL ENTIRINTY!
Hmm no wait thats to harsh....
I know! Go stand in the corner for five seconds, yep thats more in line with what you did Crown
*Edit and excellent of Course Mark keep up the excellent work
Hmm no wait thats to harsh....
I know! Go stand in the corner for five seconds, yep thats more in line with what you did Crown
*Edit and excellent of Course Mark keep up the excellent work
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
You know what Bean? I think that I might have to re-read the whole thing 'cause I'm starting to forget what's going. You know since the author posts rarely and far between (hint hint Mark 
), I am forgetting what happened a few chapters back!
Excuse me while I submerge myself!
), I am forgetting what happened a few chapters back!Excuse me while I submerge myself!
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'
-
Soontir C'boath
- SG-14: Fuck the Medic!
- Posts: 6828
- Joined: 2002-07-06 12:15am
- Location: Queens, NYC I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF MANHATTEN IS CONSIDERED NYC!! I'M IN IT ASSHOLE!!!
- Contact:
I am speechless. I have no words to express how i Feel about it.....
Cyaround,
Jason
Cyaround,
Jason
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."
I hope that's good.Soontir C'boath wrote:I am speechless. I have no words to express how i Feel about it.....
Cyaround,
Jason
Writer's Guild 'Ghost in the Machine'/Decepticon 'Devastator'/BOTM 'Space Ape'/Justice League 'The Tick'
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
-
Soontir C'boath
- SG-14: Fuck the Medic!
- Posts: 6828
- Joined: 2002-07-06 12:15am
- Location: Queens, NYC I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF MANHATTEN IS CONSIDERED NYC!! I'M IN IT ASSHOLE!!!
- Contact:
HOW COULD IT NOT??!!!!! YOUR RIVAL STRAVO!!!!! Both of your fics KICKS BUTTMark S wrote:I hope that's good.Soontir C'boath wrote:I am speechless. I have no words to express how i Feel about it.....
Cyaround,
Jason
Cyaround,
Jason
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."
-
Faram
- Bastard Operator from Hell
- Posts: 5271
- Joined: 2002-07-04 07:39am
- Location: Fighting Polarbears
I love this fanfic.
Keep it up!
Keep it up!
[img=right]http://hem.bredband.net/b217293/warsaban.gif[/img]
"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. ... If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. ... If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" -Epicurus
Fear is the mother of all gods.
Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods. -Lucretius
"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. ... If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. ... If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" -Epicurus
Fear is the mother of all gods.
Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of the gods. -Lucretius
Part 19
"You have not been saved, padawan. You are only deeper in distress."
* * *
"Senators and representatives, there is no cause for distress. The United Federation of Planets has been toppled. Its allies have been obliterated. None of the primitive and savage cultures of the new galaxy have stood for long against us. We have exacted our justice on the murderers of Skywalker, we have brought peace for the first time to their tumultuous realm, and now it is time to bring order.
"Members of the Senate, I submit to you that we must not lose our momentum. Now is the time that we must accelerate our efforts to bring true civilization to the savage populations. Now is the time for us to begin expanding our emigration and commerce."
Grand General Bastin turned a slow circle, staring into the sea of faces that surrounded him. Buzzing and flitting about, media droids recorded every nuance of his speech. He paused to let the words sink in and thought about them himself. The Senate didn't know anything about momentum. It was like him trying to convince sap to run faster. With the war so far away, they were falling back to their usual ways.
"Are you sure the new territory is safe already," a voice echoed through the massive arena.
"The Chair recognizes the honourable representative from the planet Chipawee."
The large, purple invertebrate shifted a number of tentacles and clacked its beak before continuing. "What about the reports we have heard that the military convoys continue to be attacked? What about the reports that some of the worlds are still instigating armed conflicts?"
"Yes," a dark green Nemoidian interrupted. "And what about the magistrates that have been assassinated?! Five so far, I believe! How can you begin to tell us that Republic citizens will be safe with all of this going on?!"
"Those reports are from the media and are greatly exaggerated," Bastin waved off the concerns. "The attackers are little more than pirates and brigands. And not nearly as powerful as we are already use to dealing with. As for the assassin, it is being tracked down as we speak.
"This should not deter us, Senators! By moving forward we tell our enemies that their efforts are pointless. We show the general populace a better way of life and thereby convert them to our side. These pirates will soon find themselves with no safe ports and the holdout worlds that continue aggression against our troops will whither and die."
"What about the cybernetic culture that the Jedi encountered," the Nemoidian pressed. "What about the rest of the galaxy that we know so little about? I think that a formal investigation committee should be convened."
Bastin shook his head. "We have seen nothing of the cyborgs. As for the rest of the galaxy, it will be far easier for the Republic military to continue pacification once the Jedi have took over preliminary marshaling and policing actions. They will not do this while the area is still at war.
"Fear not. The military will keep everyone safe from attack and the Jedi will make short work of anyone breaking the peace. I predict that we will soon have fully functioning and productive new members of our society."
A smattering of store bought applause rounded the cavernous chamber. The Chair let the noise continue just long enough and was about to call order when an interruption of a different sort demanded silence and all attention.
The bass rumble of amplified Hutt laughter rattled the chest cavities of all present that had them. A pod broke from its position on the wall too race forward and confront Bastin and the presiding officials.
"<If these cowards don't see the value of a galaxy of basically untapped resources, the Hutts certainly do,>" the massive creature orated in its own language. "<Hutt Space officially requests first survey of territory for extraction rights for marketable minerals and gases.>"
Bastin smiled as the Senate chamber erupted in what could only be described as a verbal land rush. It had been such a long time since there had been new worlds to conquer. Life had gotten so much more interesting since the discovery of the wormhole.
* * *
"Shields are now down forty percent, Captain." Lieutenant Commander Data ran his hands across the half dead tactical control panel and did his best to wipe a smear of blood away without activating a dozen functions. "The M'Voff is venting plasma and is requesting to be taken off the line."
Picard glanced at the display before him. Allowing the Vulcan ship too leave would cause a huge gap in their front, but having it destroyed would mean losing yet another asset. They could hardly afford this battle as it was.
"Tell her to get out of here as best she can Mr. Data," he ordered. "Have the Heracles and the David move forward to take her place."
Out in space, a defiant and an intrepid class ship broke from their strafing run on a lumbering freighter to cover the retreat of a wounded mirada. Now the two focused their fire power on a Republic frigate that dwarfed them in all respects. Spinning through the void around them and the rest of the strike team, a swarm of infuriating fighters with X configured wings kept up a constant hail of blaster fire.
Reading the minds of the other Federation captains, the defiant took it upon itself to fly into the thick of the fighters and try to scatter them. As it slammed its pulse phasors into one target, turning it into a plumb of gas a debris, the remain ships pulled out and around in expert formation.
At the frigate, twenty ships hammered down with constant volleys of quantum torpedoes. They tore into their enemy with the passion of villagers stoning a sinner. Explosions rippled around them with deadly intent but still they fired. Their only hope was opening a hole in that seemingly impenetrable shielding.
The lone defender gave as good as it was getting though, and turbolaser bolts lite the darkness like hellfire. Blasts sheared through two opponents and caused them to drift back from the attack. It was small comfort for the gunners of the frigate who were hard pressed to get any relief.
As the Enterprise shot another spread of torpedoes, its rear phasor banks trained on the fighters that streaked in and out through the line. These tiny ships were nowhere near as difficult to kill as their mothers. It was just that they were so damn difficult to hit.
A stream of energy leapt to connect with one swift attacker as the David arched over their bow. The fighter deftly banked right, leaving the blast to travel uselessly past, and rolled around it mockingly. To add insult to injury, the tiny ship let loose with a proton torpedo. It didn't wait to watch as the projectile was consumed by defending fire.
"Good shot, Mr. Data," Riker commended excitedly. "Now what's our status?"
"The Samson and the Thor's Hammer have been disabled." Data began. "The David is managing to keep the fighter wings from our flanks with limited success but its shields are down to forty five percent. Captain Antwerp has managed to disable two of the freighters but the others were able to jump away into hyperspace. Our targeted area of the frigate's shields appears to be on the verge of collapse but if we lose any further vessels we will not have the fire power to ensure its destruction."
"Understood, Commander," the captain said. "Ignore the fighters and concentrate all fire on the frigate. This one can't escape us."
As the words left Picard's mouth, the staticy forward viewscreen burst into painful light. When everyone's vision had cleared, three Federation ships were nothing more than memories and the remainders were compensating to try to get back into position.
Picard and Riker looked at each other in dismay. This couldn't mean retreat.
"Captain," Commander Laforge's voice crackled over the com. "That last hit hurt us bad! We need to get out of here and I mean now. I can't give you anything more to the shields and the engines are on their last legs down here."
"Lieutenant Commander Laforge is correct," Data added. "Our shields are now completely down. As are the shields of many of the other ships of the team. I must add that the enemy frigate however, has also lost a portion of its shields."
"Sound the retreat and order all craft to fire their last salvos on the way out." Picard looked at the damage reports scrolling down his personal screen. Damn, he thought as they followed the rest of the Federation craft away in a limping warp. This was supposed to be an easy victory.
"Well," Riker spoke as he read his own incoming reports. "It looks like it wasn't a total loss. Captain Antwerp was apparently able to tear into the freighters and beam some of the cargo out through the holes. Medical supplies in one, some sort of construction equipment in the other."
"That's not going to keep the vultures from crowing about how well their super weapon would have worked," Picard fumed.
The first officer kept silent. It would have been dangerous for everyone if they had used a subspace detonation but the battle would certainly have gone quite differently.
* * *
General Kira sat in the faltering light of her subterranean office behind a makeshift desk of planks and empty crates. A simple paper map was spread out before her showing nothing but bad news. Again.
To look at this resistance leader one would never know the special circumstances of the day. She went about her business as if she had no guest coming. As if the leader of the provisional government were not making his way in secret to meet with her.
As the serious faced Bajoran woman weighed the pros and cons of two different plans of attack, her concentration was broken by the arrival of a motley group coming to stand before her. The first were a pair of grubby soldiers in scavenged Reaper armour. They held their weapons at casual readiness and their faces at a sullen scowl. The central figure, swathed in simple, well-worn garments, was obscured by a ragged hood. Standing beside the rest of the group, he was obviously the VIP. The remaining two guards were once again of the grimmer persuasion. One man had nightvision goggles strapped to his forehead, the other, a full enemy scout helmet.
Kira stood to greet the official with her best plastered-on smile. Pulling the hood from his face, he looked around, his lips showing the dismay in his mind. Cold, muddy, starved, this was not the romantic vision of freedom fighters the man had envisioned. The distant reverberation of a Republic Seismic Charge brought the point home with chilling effect.
"General Kira," the man began as they clasped hands over the table. "I'm glad we could meet. It wasn't easy getting a hold of you."
"I hope not," the general answered with a smirk. "I trust it wasn't easy getting here either."
The Bajoran leader glanced from his escort back to the woman. "It certainly wasn't. I can honestly tell you that there was nothing easy about it. We must be fairly close to combat to feel the charges like that though."
"You'd be surprised." Kira looked back to her maps before coming out from behind her desk.
"I'm still not sure what it is you wanted to talk to me about so desperately though," she continued. "Your place is not out here."
"I know," came the answer. "And truthfully, I haven't been sure what I wanted to say to you either. Even when I was met by these... fine gentlemen, I still didn't know."
Kira didn't like this. She didn't like the look on his face. She had known too many people with bad news who had that same face.
"Let's just get to it," she said. "You've heard something. We're the last holdouts aren't we. The Reapers are going to start taking our attacks out on the civilians aren't they. Have they threatened to start glassing cities?! Damn! This is just like the Cardassians!"
"No, no." The greying man waved his hands at the string of speculation. "It's none of those things. In fact, it's actually the opposite."
"What?" Kira wasn't expecting that.
"The Republicans aren't trying to take anything out on Bajoran civilians. In fact, they've been rebuilding the damage that's been caused. Their engineers and construction crews have been showing us techniques that are amazing. They haven't actually done anything to try to change the government. We still go on as we always have." He couldn't help gently grabbing on to her arm while trying to make her see. "It's the military they're after. If we don't fight, no one will be hurt."
"So all they want to do is take away our right to defend ourselves." General Kira planted her hands firmly on her hips and shook her head. "How generous. Well, while they're out there being so generous and rebuilding your mansion, they're also killing my soldiers!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you! If you would just stop this, it would all end! There is no need for anymore killing! They have firmly stated that only those who act with aggression will be met with aggression."
The woman raised a hand to cut him off. "You mean to tell me that an alien force parks itself in orbit, announces that they have taken our planet as their property and you want me to let them have it without a fight?! You expect me to believe that they have come and destroyed our defenses just to let us go on without any change?! You've got to be kidding!"
"Of course there's a change," came the reply. "We are part of a larger community now.
"Look, I don't know why they showed up to destroy our military. No one does. I think the Federation did something to piss them off. It doesn't matter. The point is, they're too strong for us to stop them. You know that! If we don't fight we can survive. Survive and even thrive."
"I don't believe what I'm hearing," Kira shouted. "A smiling overlord is still an overlord! I've fought too hard for too many years to lay down for some Humans from another galaxy!"
"They aren't just Humans," he pushed. "The Republic is comprised of millions of races. They are making Bajor a part of that society and doing everything they can to help us adjust. Their technology is truly astounding and they are more than willing to share it. Not like the Federation, I might add. If you'd pop your head out of this hole for once you would see what's in front of you!"
"All I see in front of me is collaborator! Jase, Mellisee, get him out of here! And dump him on the front lines! Maybe his Reaper friends will find him and show some of that generosity that we're familiar with." General Kira shouted the last over her shoulder as she stalked away.
* * *
The leader of the Bajoran people stood in the corridor of an ancient temple to the Prophets looking over himself one last time. It HAD been a temple for the majority of its existence. Now it was the palace of the Republic Magistrate.
The man was wearing his very best suit. A loose fitting, immaculately wrinkle-free garment, the pants and untucked shirt were dull green while the open vest was beige in color. Very conservative. Very formal. He had just had it replicated for this meeting.
He turned around from the great, floor to ceiling mirror and looked directly into the chest of the waiting guard. There seemed to be so many guards in his life these days.
The soldier was a humanoid in appearance but definitely not human. A man in his prime. He had on what looked like blue leather pants, blue boots to his knees and a blue shirt of some thick fabric. Over his chest was a form fitting breast plate unlike anything that the regular soldiers wore and a tightfitting armour cap topped his head while leaving his face open. A heavy blaster hung at his side. He obviously wasn't regular army, but a personal guard of the Republic official.
Lifting an arm in a mute gesture for the guard to lead on, the bajoran smiled and waited. Unblinkingly, the alien turned on his heels and strode down the arching hallway. Foot steps echoed as the two made their way deeper into the carved stone structure.
Many more huge men in stylized body armour were passed as they went. None of them moved from their posts, none of their eyes looked anywhere but forward. Bajor's head had been in this temple dozens of times before, yet now was so different. It was the feel. Somehow so very un-Bajoran.
The march was finally stopped at the massive wooden doors of the main praying chamber. The guard swung them open and stepped back to reveal a portal into a different culture. The rows of prayer seats that had once held faithful priests were now gone, replaced by two long lines of towering statues. Between them ran a purple carpet that headed to the back of the chamber where a huge stone table waited. Three men rose from that table at the sight of the new arrival.
At the far side of his new governing chamber, the magistrate, a plump Twi'Lik, and his two aids watched as their guest walked confidently towards them. All three were adorned in the splendid robes of their office.
Beginning with the reddest of pants and shirt, the magistrate had three more separate layers. Over his shirt was a crimson tunic that was belted to his waist by a wide cummerbund of leather the same dark brown as his shining boots. Over this was a knee length coat of bright yellow. Thin to the touch, the layer would billow wildly around him if not for the outer covering. This final piece was a deep orange interwoven with a pattern of gold thread and swept to the mirror polished floor. Shimmering jewelry complemented the whole affair from around fingers, neck, wrists, and head-tails. The two subordinates were only slightly less regaled.
"This is their governor?" The aid that whispered the question was a soft being of pale blue skin and a swept back skull.
"Apparently," the other, a human, answered.
"He looks like he's wearing his bed clothes," the Twi'Lik muttered behind his smile while absently stroking one head-tail.
"Savages."
* * *
"Senators and representatives, there is no cause for distress. The United Federation of Planets has been toppled. Its allies have been obliterated. None of the primitive and savage cultures of the new galaxy have stood for long against us. We have exacted our justice on the murderers of Skywalker, we have brought peace for the first time to their tumultuous realm, and now it is time to bring order.
"Members of the Senate, I submit to you that we must not lose our momentum. Now is the time that we must accelerate our efforts to bring true civilization to the savage populations. Now is the time for us to begin expanding our emigration and commerce."
Grand General Bastin turned a slow circle, staring into the sea of faces that surrounded him. Buzzing and flitting about, media droids recorded every nuance of his speech. He paused to let the words sink in and thought about them himself. The Senate didn't know anything about momentum. It was like him trying to convince sap to run faster. With the war so far away, they were falling back to their usual ways.
"Are you sure the new territory is safe already," a voice echoed through the massive arena.
"The Chair recognizes the honourable representative from the planet Chipawee."
The large, purple invertebrate shifted a number of tentacles and clacked its beak before continuing. "What about the reports we have heard that the military convoys continue to be attacked? What about the reports that some of the worlds are still instigating armed conflicts?"
"Yes," a dark green Nemoidian interrupted. "And what about the magistrates that have been assassinated?! Five so far, I believe! How can you begin to tell us that Republic citizens will be safe with all of this going on?!"
"Those reports are from the media and are greatly exaggerated," Bastin waved off the concerns. "The attackers are little more than pirates and brigands. And not nearly as powerful as we are already use to dealing with. As for the assassin, it is being tracked down as we speak.
"This should not deter us, Senators! By moving forward we tell our enemies that their efforts are pointless. We show the general populace a better way of life and thereby convert them to our side. These pirates will soon find themselves with no safe ports and the holdout worlds that continue aggression against our troops will whither and die."
"What about the cybernetic culture that the Jedi encountered," the Nemoidian pressed. "What about the rest of the galaxy that we know so little about? I think that a formal investigation committee should be convened."
Bastin shook his head. "We have seen nothing of the cyborgs. As for the rest of the galaxy, it will be far easier for the Republic military to continue pacification once the Jedi have took over preliminary marshaling and policing actions. They will not do this while the area is still at war.
"Fear not. The military will keep everyone safe from attack and the Jedi will make short work of anyone breaking the peace. I predict that we will soon have fully functioning and productive new members of our society."
A smattering of store bought applause rounded the cavernous chamber. The Chair let the noise continue just long enough and was about to call order when an interruption of a different sort demanded silence and all attention.
The bass rumble of amplified Hutt laughter rattled the chest cavities of all present that had them. A pod broke from its position on the wall too race forward and confront Bastin and the presiding officials.
"<If these cowards don't see the value of a galaxy of basically untapped resources, the Hutts certainly do,>" the massive creature orated in its own language. "<Hutt Space officially requests first survey of territory for extraction rights for marketable minerals and gases.>"
Bastin smiled as the Senate chamber erupted in what could only be described as a verbal land rush. It had been such a long time since there had been new worlds to conquer. Life had gotten so much more interesting since the discovery of the wormhole.
* * *
"Shields are now down forty percent, Captain." Lieutenant Commander Data ran his hands across the half dead tactical control panel and did his best to wipe a smear of blood away without activating a dozen functions. "The M'Voff is venting plasma and is requesting to be taken off the line."
Picard glanced at the display before him. Allowing the Vulcan ship too leave would cause a huge gap in their front, but having it destroyed would mean losing yet another asset. They could hardly afford this battle as it was.
"Tell her to get out of here as best she can Mr. Data," he ordered. "Have the Heracles and the David move forward to take her place."
Out in space, a defiant and an intrepid class ship broke from their strafing run on a lumbering freighter to cover the retreat of a wounded mirada. Now the two focused their fire power on a Republic frigate that dwarfed them in all respects. Spinning through the void around them and the rest of the strike team, a swarm of infuriating fighters with X configured wings kept up a constant hail of blaster fire.
Reading the minds of the other Federation captains, the defiant took it upon itself to fly into the thick of the fighters and try to scatter them. As it slammed its pulse phasors into one target, turning it into a plumb of gas a debris, the remain ships pulled out and around in expert formation.
At the frigate, twenty ships hammered down with constant volleys of quantum torpedoes. They tore into their enemy with the passion of villagers stoning a sinner. Explosions rippled around them with deadly intent but still they fired. Their only hope was opening a hole in that seemingly impenetrable shielding.
The lone defender gave as good as it was getting though, and turbolaser bolts lite the darkness like hellfire. Blasts sheared through two opponents and caused them to drift back from the attack. It was small comfort for the gunners of the frigate who were hard pressed to get any relief.
As the Enterprise shot another spread of torpedoes, its rear phasor banks trained on the fighters that streaked in and out through the line. These tiny ships were nowhere near as difficult to kill as their mothers. It was just that they were so damn difficult to hit.
A stream of energy leapt to connect with one swift attacker as the David arched over their bow. The fighter deftly banked right, leaving the blast to travel uselessly past, and rolled around it mockingly. To add insult to injury, the tiny ship let loose with a proton torpedo. It didn't wait to watch as the projectile was consumed by defending fire.
"Good shot, Mr. Data," Riker commended excitedly. "Now what's our status?"
"The Samson and the Thor's Hammer have been disabled." Data began. "The David is managing to keep the fighter wings from our flanks with limited success but its shields are down to forty five percent. Captain Antwerp has managed to disable two of the freighters but the others were able to jump away into hyperspace. Our targeted area of the frigate's shields appears to be on the verge of collapse but if we lose any further vessels we will not have the fire power to ensure its destruction."
"Understood, Commander," the captain said. "Ignore the fighters and concentrate all fire on the frigate. This one can't escape us."
As the words left Picard's mouth, the staticy forward viewscreen burst into painful light. When everyone's vision had cleared, three Federation ships were nothing more than memories and the remainders were compensating to try to get back into position.
Picard and Riker looked at each other in dismay. This couldn't mean retreat.
"Captain," Commander Laforge's voice crackled over the com. "That last hit hurt us bad! We need to get out of here and I mean now. I can't give you anything more to the shields and the engines are on their last legs down here."
"Lieutenant Commander Laforge is correct," Data added. "Our shields are now completely down. As are the shields of many of the other ships of the team. I must add that the enemy frigate however, has also lost a portion of its shields."
"Sound the retreat and order all craft to fire their last salvos on the way out." Picard looked at the damage reports scrolling down his personal screen. Damn, he thought as they followed the rest of the Federation craft away in a limping warp. This was supposed to be an easy victory.
"Well," Riker spoke as he read his own incoming reports. "It looks like it wasn't a total loss. Captain Antwerp was apparently able to tear into the freighters and beam some of the cargo out through the holes. Medical supplies in one, some sort of construction equipment in the other."
"That's not going to keep the vultures from crowing about how well their super weapon would have worked," Picard fumed.
The first officer kept silent. It would have been dangerous for everyone if they had used a subspace detonation but the battle would certainly have gone quite differently.
* * *
General Kira sat in the faltering light of her subterranean office behind a makeshift desk of planks and empty crates. A simple paper map was spread out before her showing nothing but bad news. Again.
To look at this resistance leader one would never know the special circumstances of the day. She went about her business as if she had no guest coming. As if the leader of the provisional government were not making his way in secret to meet with her.
As the serious faced Bajoran woman weighed the pros and cons of two different plans of attack, her concentration was broken by the arrival of a motley group coming to stand before her. The first were a pair of grubby soldiers in scavenged Reaper armour. They held their weapons at casual readiness and their faces at a sullen scowl. The central figure, swathed in simple, well-worn garments, was obscured by a ragged hood. Standing beside the rest of the group, he was obviously the VIP. The remaining two guards were once again of the grimmer persuasion. One man had nightvision goggles strapped to his forehead, the other, a full enemy scout helmet.
Kira stood to greet the official with her best plastered-on smile. Pulling the hood from his face, he looked around, his lips showing the dismay in his mind. Cold, muddy, starved, this was not the romantic vision of freedom fighters the man had envisioned. The distant reverberation of a Republic Seismic Charge brought the point home with chilling effect.
"General Kira," the man began as they clasped hands over the table. "I'm glad we could meet. It wasn't easy getting a hold of you."
"I hope not," the general answered with a smirk. "I trust it wasn't easy getting here either."
The Bajoran leader glanced from his escort back to the woman. "It certainly wasn't. I can honestly tell you that there was nothing easy about it. We must be fairly close to combat to feel the charges like that though."
"You'd be surprised." Kira looked back to her maps before coming out from behind her desk.
"I'm still not sure what it is you wanted to talk to me about so desperately though," she continued. "Your place is not out here."
"I know," came the answer. "And truthfully, I haven't been sure what I wanted to say to you either. Even when I was met by these... fine gentlemen, I still didn't know."
Kira didn't like this. She didn't like the look on his face. She had known too many people with bad news who had that same face.
"Let's just get to it," she said. "You've heard something. We're the last holdouts aren't we. The Reapers are going to start taking our attacks out on the civilians aren't they. Have they threatened to start glassing cities?! Damn! This is just like the Cardassians!"
"No, no." The greying man waved his hands at the string of speculation. "It's none of those things. In fact, it's actually the opposite."
"What?" Kira wasn't expecting that.
"The Republicans aren't trying to take anything out on Bajoran civilians. In fact, they've been rebuilding the damage that's been caused. Their engineers and construction crews have been showing us techniques that are amazing. They haven't actually done anything to try to change the government. We still go on as we always have." He couldn't help gently grabbing on to her arm while trying to make her see. "It's the military they're after. If we don't fight, no one will be hurt."
"So all they want to do is take away our right to defend ourselves." General Kira planted her hands firmly on her hips and shook her head. "How generous. Well, while they're out there being so generous and rebuilding your mansion, they're also killing my soldiers!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you! If you would just stop this, it would all end! There is no need for anymore killing! They have firmly stated that only those who act with aggression will be met with aggression."
The woman raised a hand to cut him off. "You mean to tell me that an alien force parks itself in orbit, announces that they have taken our planet as their property and you want me to let them have it without a fight?! You expect me to believe that they have come and destroyed our defenses just to let us go on without any change?! You've got to be kidding!"
"Of course there's a change," came the reply. "We are part of a larger community now.
"Look, I don't know why they showed up to destroy our military. No one does. I think the Federation did something to piss them off. It doesn't matter. The point is, they're too strong for us to stop them. You know that! If we don't fight we can survive. Survive and even thrive."
"I don't believe what I'm hearing," Kira shouted. "A smiling overlord is still an overlord! I've fought too hard for too many years to lay down for some Humans from another galaxy!"
"They aren't just Humans," he pushed. "The Republic is comprised of millions of races. They are making Bajor a part of that society and doing everything they can to help us adjust. Their technology is truly astounding and they are more than willing to share it. Not like the Federation, I might add. If you'd pop your head out of this hole for once you would see what's in front of you!"
"All I see in front of me is collaborator! Jase, Mellisee, get him out of here! And dump him on the front lines! Maybe his Reaper friends will find him and show some of that generosity that we're familiar with." General Kira shouted the last over her shoulder as she stalked away.
* * *
The leader of the Bajoran people stood in the corridor of an ancient temple to the Prophets looking over himself one last time. It HAD been a temple for the majority of its existence. Now it was the palace of the Republic Magistrate.
The man was wearing his very best suit. A loose fitting, immaculately wrinkle-free garment, the pants and untucked shirt were dull green while the open vest was beige in color. Very conservative. Very formal. He had just had it replicated for this meeting.
He turned around from the great, floor to ceiling mirror and looked directly into the chest of the waiting guard. There seemed to be so many guards in his life these days.
The soldier was a humanoid in appearance but definitely not human. A man in his prime. He had on what looked like blue leather pants, blue boots to his knees and a blue shirt of some thick fabric. Over his chest was a form fitting breast plate unlike anything that the regular soldiers wore and a tightfitting armour cap topped his head while leaving his face open. A heavy blaster hung at his side. He obviously wasn't regular army, but a personal guard of the Republic official.
Lifting an arm in a mute gesture for the guard to lead on, the bajoran smiled and waited. Unblinkingly, the alien turned on his heels and strode down the arching hallway. Foot steps echoed as the two made their way deeper into the carved stone structure.
Many more huge men in stylized body armour were passed as they went. None of them moved from their posts, none of their eyes looked anywhere but forward. Bajor's head had been in this temple dozens of times before, yet now was so different. It was the feel. Somehow so very un-Bajoran.
The march was finally stopped at the massive wooden doors of the main praying chamber. The guard swung them open and stepped back to reveal a portal into a different culture. The rows of prayer seats that had once held faithful priests were now gone, replaced by two long lines of towering statues. Between them ran a purple carpet that headed to the back of the chamber where a huge stone table waited. Three men rose from that table at the sight of the new arrival.
At the far side of his new governing chamber, the magistrate, a plump Twi'Lik, and his two aids watched as their guest walked confidently towards them. All three were adorned in the splendid robes of their office.
Beginning with the reddest of pants and shirt, the magistrate had three more separate layers. Over his shirt was a crimson tunic that was belted to his waist by a wide cummerbund of leather the same dark brown as his shining boots. Over this was a knee length coat of bright yellow. Thin to the touch, the layer would billow wildly around him if not for the outer covering. This final piece was a deep orange interwoven with a pattern of gold thread and swept to the mirror polished floor. Shimmering jewelry complemented the whole affair from around fingers, neck, wrists, and head-tails. The two subordinates were only slightly less regaled.
"This is their governor?" The aid that whispered the question was a soft being of pale blue skin and a swept back skull.
"Apparently," the other, a human, answered.
"He looks like he's wearing his bed clothes," the Twi'Lik muttered behind his smile while absently stroking one head-tail.
"Savages."
Writer's Guild 'Ghost in the Machine'/Decepticon 'Devastator'/BOTM 'Space Ape'/Justice League 'The Tick'
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
-
haas mark
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Obviously something I'm gonna have to read throiugh....
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Formerly verilon
R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero, 09 October 1967 - 13 November 2005
Hot Pants à la Zaia | BotM Lord Monkey Mod OOK!
SDNC | WG | GDC | ACPATHNTDWATGODW | GALE | ISARMA | CotK: [mew]
Formerly verilon
R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero, 09 October 1967 - 13 November 2005
Mark S, not that I am unapreciative, but your posts are becoming somewhat shorter 
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'
I've noticed it too actually. I'll have to work on it.Crown wrote:Mark S, not that I am unapreciative, but your posts are becoming somewhat shorter
Writer's Guild 'Ghost in the Machine'/Decepticon 'Devastator'/BOTM 'Space Ape'/Justice League 'The Tick'
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
"The best part of 'believe' is the lie."
It's always the quiet ones.
Yay!
But on the other hand... Keep posting please, or else Bean will have my liver on the grill for suggesting this to you!
But on the other hand... Keep posting please, or else Bean will have my liver on the grill for suggesting this to you!
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'
Excellent. As always. :D
A bit on the short side, but it was posted soon after the last, so I'm not complaining.
A bit on the short side, but it was posted soon after the last, so I'm not complaining.
"It appears that our minds will never meet on this subject."
"If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no." - Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
"If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no." - Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
wow, I can't belive I have never read all of this awesome, borg bloodbath 
"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.