Friend or Foe
Posted on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 @ 7:29am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Larim Myles & Staff Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters - Calhoun
Edited on on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 @ 6:42pm
1,810 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4 - The Sum of Our Parts
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD003 1200 hrs
"Well or Quantum signature should be on record when we got scanned in sickbay." Larim said. "Radiations good idea. Let's do that." Larim said further. "Strictly security of course my training."
"Ask for coordinates remember them pretty well as I was on the bridge." He chuckled.
"Looks like we got ourselves a plan." Jenn said.
"Let's do it then" Larim said.
May 30 2394 1200 hrs (relative time)
Jennifer walked back on to the bridge again. Back on her own Pioneer she was hardly on it. In fact she had been seeing the Pioneer bridge a lot more in the short time she was here, then she has been in the time she had been on the Pioneer in her own universe.
Quietly she took her station. She has been thinking about what Larim and her had been talking about the other day. She was so not going to stay here. There had to be a way to come back.
As Jennifer walked into the bridge, Jati got up from her science station and climbed up to where operations was located. "The results are in", she said, handing her a PADD. "We've got your quantum signature, now we'll only have to find the point of entry and we should be able to send you back."
Jenn took the padd and looked on it. "Oh that is great!" She read it over. "The only one who could possibly know the point of entry is Lieutenant Myles, he was on the bridge when it happened."
Edge of the sector of space
"Tracking new vessel... Federation Starfleet, Intrepid Class NCC-74757, One hundred and ninety six lifeforms on board." A disembodied voice on an unknown vessel spoke up. A second voice responded....
"Redirect the conduit. We will add their technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile..."
USS Pioneer Bridge
Jati's console beeped and she returned to check the readings. "Red alert!" she ordered. "Transwarp conduit approaching, Borg signature." She could not see what kind of ship was approaching them but that is was Borg was reason enough. "I recommend course 257 mark 035, maximum warp." It would put the maximum possible distance between their ship and whichever vessel was going to emerge from that transwarp conduit any minute now.
As soon as Jati gave her report the bridge comm speakers activated without signal and without warning. "Federation vessel. We are the Borg, you will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." The voice that spoke was monotone, and robotic. Clearly Borg, however, unlike the voice that was known to the Borg. This was a distinctively male voice.
"They need better material" Bervag said. Smiling he turned to Larim. "Red alert, obviously. But, hail them."
"Huh?" Larim said. "Bervag." He said. "They're the Borg, they've said their bit." Bervag flashed a look. Larim hailed them.
"Cannel open."
Bervag spoke up. "We are the federation. How about no. We don't prefer to be assimilated at this time.' Pioneer out"
"Larim. What are we looking at?"
"A rather large tactical cube, Captain. Weapons hot" Larim said. Just then shields were impacted. Consoles sparked. "Shields holding at 90."
"Fire phasers!" Bervag ordered. Larim did so
The tactical cube took the hit square in it's center. However, little to no damage registered visually. The cube decelerated from transwarp and unleashed all of it's weapons. A Borg cutting beam began cutting through just in front of the bridge, destroying the Captain's Ready Room. At the same time three Borg boarding parties appeared on the Pioneer. One in the shuttle bay, one in main engineering, and one on the Bridge. "Surrender your vessel and become one with the Borg. Resistance is futile."
Jenn grabbed her phaser and fired on the materializing Borg. "Captain, Lieutenant!" She screamed over the phaser noise. "We need to damage the Borg cube enough to keep the Borg busy enough for our escape."
Security personnel leaped into action to repel the Borg. They opened fire and two drones fell to the floor. However, the Borg shielding took hold and adapted when the third shot tried to hit it's mark. A Drone spun one of the security ensigns around and injected three assimilation nodes into the man. The man whimpered in pain and then fell to the deck as his skin turned a sweaty pale bluish green. Borg implants began to sprout through his skin. Another Drone was born.
Bervag spoke up. "Larim! Get Masters out of here! Also yourself! Do it now!" The trill said Larim nodded.
Jenn, on me"Latim said, wasting no time and getting to the lift. A few more personnel frantically joined them. The doors closed just in time for Larim to see his friend assimilated.
"Armory" he ordered and the lift sped off. He slammed the bulkhead with his fist. He was chief of security. How could he have let this happen?
"Resistance is futile. Become one with the Collective." The drones encircled the bridge, yet they did not close in for close combat. They had learned from their previous encounters, they have adapted." One drone approached the Science station and Lieutenant Vaebn tr'Hwersuil rose to combat the invader. The Romulan and the drone locked into a struggle which seemed in a matter of moments to be at an end when the Romulan had the Borg on the ground and was straining to snap the drone's neck. However, the drone reached up and managed to inject his assimilation nodes into Vaebn. The good news was that as the Romulan fell he did break the drone's neck, the bad news was that the assimilation had taken hold.
"Good with that drone we will have the ship. Resistance is Futile" the male sounding disembodied Borg voice came again.
Jenn pulled Larim's arm. "Larim, listen, we have to get to engineering. Pioneer is already in the Borg's tractorbeam. We can manually overload the warp-core. The explosion will cause a feedback loop and will damage the Borg cube. We can set it for just enough time so that we can escape the ship." She sighed. "I hate to do this, they were so kind to take us in, but we have no choice then to destroy the ship. It's always better then be assimilated." She looked to the security chief.
He nodded
The drone version of Vaebn rose and took a seat at the science station. Borg implants had sprouted from his face and hands. No words were exchanged between any of the drones on the bridge. However, the collective mind was in action. They now had the memories of Vaebn, and his command codes. The Vaebn drone used those codes to access the Pioneer's environmental controls. Once in that system another drone engaged the assimilation probes into the computer system. Within moments a thick, green smog began to emerge from the ducts and vents all over the Pioneer.
"This ship will be assimilated in five minutes. There can be no resistance, for all that can be is perfection." The Borg voice spoke again.
"Okay that's not good." Larim said, stating the obvious. "Okay here's the plan. We're on a time crunch here, so we head straight to the armory pick up some projectile weapons."
"Then we go as fast as possible to the shuttle bay.. Launch one, then we blow one. That should distract the Borg long enough for us to get away"
As they ran in to the shuttle bay with their weapons. Jenn rushed to the bay doors to open them manually. While Larim had gone in to a shuttle to set it to overload. There was no time to overload the warp-core. The alerts were blaring as the Borg were executing their plan. Jenn hoped the blast of the one shuttle would be enough to destroy the Pioneer. She hopped in the other shuttle and started up the system.
Then she logged in to the SCIF from the shuttle. She used her codes to overload the computer before the Borg could assimilate the information. She couldn't hack the main core to cause an overload as the Borg collective was faster than her single mind. "Larim!" She shouted. "It's now or never." She looked to the vents as the green fumes came out.
As the two Starfleet officers boarded the shuttle the full realization of the Borg's adaptation was realized. Larim and Jen bared witness as the crew of the USS Pioneer. People they knew yet didn't know fell to assimilation. They fell and they were never touched. They fell by simply breathing, this was the hellish plan that the Borg hatched. As the hatch to their shuttle closed the Borg voice now louder than ever spoke again. "Borg vessel Pioneer now assimilated. Two lifeforms remaining. One Betazoid, one human they will be assimilated resistance is always futile."
"Engines primed Jenn! Come on" he yelled. The shuttle lifted off as the other began to blow. He watched as half the ship blew, sending them via shock wave away.
Luckily the shields held. " Jenn. I got the coordinates in. Ready?"
As the shuttle cleared the bay doors the two occupants saw the full extent of the assimilation. Borg technology had spawned forth from the hull. The shields glowed green as all Borg technology did. The assimilated Intrepid class starship began to come about and two preemptive tractor beams stretched forth from the ship. Both beams missed their targets.
"Cool. To quote Janeway..setting a course..for home" And with that the shuttle disappeared in a violent blue light. Soon after braking thrusters fired.
"Ok. Scanning. Because all I see is an Intrepid or what used to be one."
Jenn looked from the main window. "What a beautiful sight." She then turned to Larim laughing. "Is this ours?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
"Reading no drones. Quantum Signature...match us. We're home" he smiled.
Jenn panted and then laughed. "We're home...we made it!" She leaned over and hugged him. "We're back." She then let him go as she looked to the their home that came closer and closer. And she fell silent. "The other Pioneer? The Borg? Do you think..." She shivered by the thought.
A Joint Post By
Commander Bervag Bers
Executive Officer, USS Juno
Lieutenant Larim Myles
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Pioneer
Captain Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
As The Borg Collective
RSS Feed