Season 2 Episode 10
S2E10: War Cry Pt1
First officer’s personal log, Stardate 54954.1. I am about to complete another shift of night watch, my fourth in a row. I have not been sleeping well but Doctor Kray has given me some ideas to try when I get off duty. Tonight’s shift has scanned five gaseous anomalies in this sector with another fifteen on sensors ahead of us.
‘…and so the bartended says, what is this a joke?’ said Lt.Jnr Will Tristram, eliciting only groans with his attempt to liven the night watch crew up.
‘Ensign Silver told that one last week at the poker game Will, not funny then, not funny now’ said Ensign Salo Mir at the ops station next to Lt.Jnr Tristram.
‘Well I thought it was…’ he started before the turbo lift doors opened and cut him off.
Captain David Branagh emerged from the turbo lift with Lt.Cmdr Harry Frost and Lt.Jnr Kell Perim. Other officers came out of the other turbo lift a few seconds later, including Lt. John Brightman.
‘I stand relived sir. Nothing to report other than we are about to reach our sixth anomaly’ said Cmdr. Gerard, standing from the Captain’s seat. ‘Oh, and that Lt. Kato’s brother had his first child, but I forwarded that to his quarters’
‘Very good Commander…now get some sleep. You look exhausted Sarah’ said the Captain, placing a hand on her arm.
‘Right away sir’ she replied and made for the turbo lift with the other night watch crew.
‘Begin day watch’ said the Captain as he sat down.
The turbo lift opened onto the officers quarters deck and Cmdr. Gerard and Lt.Jnr Tristram left Ensign Mir to go down a few decks more.
‘Sleep well sir’ said Lt.Jnr Tristram as he reached his quarters.
Cmdr. Gerard only smiled before walking on to her own room. She got inside and took her uniform off as fast as she could, leaving it draped over chairs and strewn across the floor. The low level hum of the sonic shower helped her to relax but not much. The disruptor burn on her leg from a month ago was still causing her pain. Doctor Kray had given her pain relief for it but she could still feel it. His natural sleep remedies didn’t work well either. She was still using stronger pain relief medicine without the Doctor’s knowledge and it was the only thing that helped her.
Stepping out of the shower she dispensed with a robe and went straight for the bed, grabbing the hypospray from the sink unit as she went. She stopped and looked at the other items on her bathroom surface, padds of alternative remedies Doctor Kray had given her for her pain. She nearly picked one up, but decided on her old way. She went to her bed and lay down, grabbing the covers around her before injecting herself and drifting off to sleep.
Seemingly almost as she drifted off to sleep, Cmdr. Gerard’s quarters filled with yellow intermittent light. Her eyes found it hard adjusting to the flashing lights of the yellow alert as she fumbled around her quarters for her uniform as the Captain’s voice came over the comm.
‘Senior officers report to the bridge’ he ordered.
Cmdr. Gerard pulled her shirt over her head and grabbed her jacket as she left her dimly illuminated quarters.
The turbo lift doors slid open before her and Cmdr. Gerard straightened herself out. She kept her tired and sleep-deprived head up as she made her way onto the bridge. She was greeted by Captain Branagh who showed concern on his face when he saw how tired his first officer looked.
‘Sarah, are you…’ he started quietly.
‘I’m fine sir, what’s the situation?’ she asked abruptly.
‘We’ve come across a Klingon ship that is badly damaged. Brightman, any life signs?’ Captain Branagh asked, keeping his eyes on Cmdr. Gerard as she massaged her forehead.
‘Negative sir, not picking up any life signs. Not even any dead bodies’ replied Lt. Brightman.
Captain Branagh finally removed his gaze from his first officer and made his way to the science station where Lt. Brightman was sitting. Cmdr. Gerard took her seat next to the Captain’s chair and started tapping at her console, trying to keep herself awake. Captain Branagh leaned on the console and looked over Lt. Brightman’s scans.
‘Did the crew abandon ship?’ he asked.
‘Not with the escape pods sir, they are all still attached’ Lt. Brightman replied. ‘They could of beamed to another ship but we cant tell from here’
‘Is there an atmosphere?’ asked the Captain, already planning ahead.
‘No sir, too many hull breaches’
Captain Branagh strode back to the middle of the bridge and faced the damaged ship on the view screen. Usually he would ask Cmdr. Gerard right away to put an away team together, but she was clearly in no fit state to do so.
‘Bishop and Brightman your with me. You have the bridge Commander’ he ordered.
‘But sir I…’ started Cmdr. Gerard, standing as quickly as she could.
‘That’s an order Commander. Keep scanning the area for ships’ said Captain Branagh as he and his team disappeared into the turbo lift.
The Captain seemed disappointed but not angry to Cmdr. Gerard. She fought through her tiredness so that she wouldn’t let him down any more. If whatever ship destroyed the Klingons came back they would need her to be ready and able. However with just about an hours sleep under her belt, she wasn’t at her full strength.
The white environmental suits of the away team emerged from the glittering transporter beams and the three officers found themselves weightless for a few seconds before they activated their magnetic boots. Lt. Brightman drew his tricorder and began scanning the large rips in the ships hull. The away team where on a deck yet where fully exposed to space above them and to their right. The whole bulkhead was stripped away leaving anyone inside exposed to space. There where no signs of bodies though, and the damage was very precise and clean. Almost as if the ship had been carved up by a precision beam. Lt. Bishop also held out a tricorder, scanning down what was left of the corridor behind them.
‘Sir, the bridge is just up there. I am reading feint power signatures, could be the computer is still operational. Power seems to be dwindling though sir, we need to hurry’ she said, pointing towards a large door.
‘Brightman stay here and scan the damage, we’ll check out the bridge’ ordered the Captain quietly.
With no power running through it the large door slid open easily in the vacuum. The two officers were once again greeted by no bodies and no debris floating around. The bridge was deadly silent and black, save for a small light on one of the consoles. The away team slowly made their way towards it, the magnetic boots slowly their pace across the metal deck. The eerie silence made Lt. Bishop nervous as always. She was fine with the suits and the zero-g, but she had never gotten used to the silence while outside of a ship. The only noise she had to comfort her was the sound of her own slightly fast breath. They reached the light and saw that the computer core was barely functioning.
‘We cant access it from here sir, all we can do is transfer the data to the Trafalgar and hope its accessible’ she said, controlling her breathing.
‘Alright. Brightman, get up here and get this data to the ship’ said Captain Branagh.
Lt. Brightman slowly moved onto the bridge and towards the console, trying to hurry as he wanted off the ship as quickly as Lt. Bishop did.
‘Captain, my scans show magnetic residue traces on the edges of the hull. It looks as if…’ Lt. Brightman started.
Captain Branagh’s blood ran cold in that moment but he tried not to show it to his team. He glanced at Lt. Bishop who had the same concerned and scared look in her eyes.
‘Yes Lieutenant I know what it could be. Gather the data from the core and lets get back to the ship’ he ordered.
As the transporter beam faded and the away team found themselves back in their transporter room. Lieutenants Bishop and Brightman both removed their helmets pretty quickly, welcoming the comparitivly loud noises of their ship and the more natural air. Captain Branagh held himself in more restraint and removed his normally before turning to them, his face grave and serious.
‘Brightman get to the bridge and start sorting through the data we collected. We need to find some sort of log entry or sensor information’ he said, his hands starting to tap on each other faster and faster. ‘Bishop get to tactical and start sensor sweeps of the entire area’
Back on the bridge the away team were greeted with confused looks. Captain Branagh had not informed the crew of their findings yet, he didn’t want to panic them too early. He approached Cmdr. Gerard, who looked less tired now but still not herself, and got her to sit down next to his Captain’s chair. They leaned in to each other so none of the crew could hear their discussion. As Lt. Brightman sat at his science console Ensign Leanne Silver leaned in from behind him, her eyes on the two command officers.
‘What are they being so quiet about?’ she asked, whispering herself.
‘Something I hope isn’t the case’ he replied, his eyes fixed on the data stream from the Klingon ship.
‘Well what did you find over there?’ she continued.
‘Nothing good’ he said, finally looking round to her, a look of fear in his eyes.
Lt. Brightman carried on pouring over the data until he came across files that looked like audio logs.
‘Sir, I think I have something, looks like audio recordings, but I don’t know when from’ he said.
Captain Branagh and Cmdr. Gerard looked up from their quiet conversation and stood up.
‘Lets hear the last one’ ordered the Captain.
Lt. Brightman tapped a few controls and a burst of audio static came over the comm. The message started to clear up and a Klingon voice could be heard through the disruption.
‘…ields down…weapons mal…We are the Borg, surrender your ship, we will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile…’ ended the message as the audio cut off abruptly.
Everyone on the bridge tensed up and some even gasped. Captain Branagh and Cmdr. Gerard turned to each other and just stared, worry and fear across both their faces.
‘Sir…what do we do now?’ asked Lt. Bishop slowly.
Captain Branagh snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his tactical officer.
‘Send our co-ordinates and all the information we’ve gathered to Starfleet. Ask what our orders are to be’ he said. ‘We will remain here until we know what to do’
‘Sir, I think I can trace the Borg vessel’s trajectory’ said Ensign Silver from her post. ‘There are strangely large amounts of gravitational eddys along course 274 mark 312’
‘Helm, project that course and find out where it leads’ said Cmdr. Gerard, finally getting into her stride after hours and hours of no sleep.
‘That course takes them into Klingon space sir…all the way to Qo’Nos’ replied Lt.Jnr Perim.
‘Why would they be heading for Qo’Nos?’ asked Lt. Bishop.
‘I don’t know, but that gives us someone else to contact…’ said Captain Branagh, stroking his chin slowly in thought.
A small Klingon Bird-of-prey pulled alongside he Trafalgar and came to stop. As always when these two ships met the Klingon ship looked much smaller but was just as capable and experienced. This was mainly down to her Captain, who was beaming aboard the Trafalgar to be greeted by Cmdr. Gerard in the transporter room. She smiled as Captain Kaloth appeared before her. With the way she was feeling she needed a familiar and overly-friendly greeting like his. He embraced the officer tightly and lifted her off the ground. She spoke through the constriction with humor in her voice.
‘I cant really help you if I cant breath Kaloth’
The Klingon let her down and patted her on the shoulder.
‘Sorry, but it has been too long since I have laid eyes on your radiant features!’ he bellowed.
‘Well we can catch up later, we have a serious problem to discuss first’ she said, her face dropping back to serious worry.
The two of them entered the observation lounge and were greeted by the senior officers sat around the large table. Two seats where left open for Captain Kaloth and Cmdr. Gerard. They took their seats and Captain Branagh started the meeting.
‘Kaloth we have intercepted a Borg ship traveling through our space to yours’ he said.
‘Borg?! Where did they come from?’ he asked loudly. This was the first time Cmdr. Gerard had seen the Klingon show any sign of fear or worry.
‘The gravitational effects we tracked are usually associated with wormholes. We think they came through one from the Delta quadrant’ said Lt. Brightman, explaining his findings.
‘Well where are they headed, you said Klingon space?’ asked the large, burly Captain.
‘Yes, they seem to be on course for Qo’Nos’ said Captain Branagh.
‘Then we must go at once!’ shouted Captain Kaloth, standing up.
Captain Branagh raised his hands to calm the Klingon down, urging him to sit again. Cmdr. Gerard placed a hand on Captain Kaloth’s shoulder as he sat again, patting it in reassurance.
‘We will be under way soon, we just have to wait for reinforcements from Starfleet’ she said, comforting Captain Kaloth.
‘What of the Klingon defense force? With the war against the renegades we are stretched thin as it is’ said Captain Kaloth.
‘That’s why Starfleet are sending ships. Whatever the Borg want with the Empire, we need to stop it. For both government’s sakes’ said Captain Branagh.
‘When will they arrive?’ asked the Klingon.
’12 hours from now. We are on the edge of Federation space, not many ships in the area’ replied Captain Branagh.
‘I will go on ahead and keep track of the ship’ Captain Kaloth said.
‘Your ship is no match for…’ started Cmdr. Gerard.
‘I will not engage them. I will cloak and stay back far enough to track them but be detected. Someone has to keep a tab on them’ he said, now reassuring the Commander.
‘Ok then Kaloth, if you can be our eyes on the vessel that would be a great help to our fleet and our home world’ said Captain Branagh. ‘Good luck Captain. Dismissed everyone’
The Kortov pulled away from the Trafalgar and disappeared with its cloaking device. All the Trafalgar could do was sit and wait for Starfleet to arrive and then maybe they could stop the ship. With the Borg incursions, even with new weapons and shields, all anyone could really do was attack and hope for the best. The Borg were a juggernaut and sometimes even a brick wall resistance couldn’t stop them. Countless civilizations had found that out to their cost and neither Earth nor Qo’Nos would be one of them. Not while Captain’s like Branagh and Kaloth had their say.
The hours past and Captain Kaloth intermittently reported in on the Cube’s status. He spoke of ships being attacked and turned into Borg vessels. The Cube seemed to be amassing a fleet of ships as it went. Kaloth confirmed that its course was a direct line to the Klingon home world. If the Cube reached it’s destination the Empire would not last long. His voice became more anxious with each message, but Cmdr. Gerard was always there to reply. She was on her twentieth hour since being prematurely woken and it was starting to show. Her face was pale and her eyes dark with tiredness. Yet she stayed at her post for as long as she was needed.
The Starfleet armada finally arrived and all thirty ships, now including the Trafalgar, got under way at maximum warp. Captain Branagh was both happy and concerned that some old friends where in the fleet. Captain Pall Miras, the Bajoran Captain of the Friedman, and Captain Delmar, an Andorian and Captain of the Ranger, were both in the fleet and had sent messages to Captain Branagh. He always wanted his friends at his side at times like these, but he knew not many ships came back when the Borg were involved. He stood at the engineering console, looking over the warp core levels as Lt. Kato Nasri kept the ship a warp nine. He looked over at his restless and tired first officer as she kept up with ship’s duties and made sure every station and crew member was ready for the oncoming fight. He walked down to his ready room and signaled for Cmdr. Gerard to follow him inside.
He went around his desk and sat in his chair, leaning forward and gesturing for Cmdr. Gerard to sit as well. Every time she sat somewhere it looked like a wave of euphoria over her face. She was so tired she could hardly walk for more than a few seconds.
‘Sarah, do I have to relieve you of duty?’ he asked her.
‘No sir, especially not at a time like this’ she gasped, but with the tiredness showing through.
‘You obviously need rest, and if you carry on like this you might make a mistake, and against the Borg we cant make mistakes’ he said, reaching out for her hand. She took it and he held her hand tight in his. ‘Go to sleep Sarah, that’s an order’
‘But sir…’ she started, but Captain Branagh raised his hand to stop her.
Cmdr. Gerard let go of his hand and made for the door. She got into a turbo lift without looking at the other officers, all busy with their duties.
The doors slid open and Cmdr. Gerard made her way to her quarters. As the doors opened she nearly collapsed there and then but managed to make it to her bed before doing so. She drifted off to sleep almost instantly, tiredness washing over her and knocking her out finally.
Once again an alert abruptly brought Cmdr. Gerard back to the waking world. This time it was red alert and she stirred much quicker. She had slept in her uniform so was already dressed for duty. She felt much better than before, rested and ready for anything. She attached her comm badge and ran out of her quarters for the bridge.
As the turbo lift doors opened Cmdr. Gerard saw the bridge a hub of activity, officers running to and fro, the ones at their stations looking serious and concentrating. Captain Branagh looked up at her and smiled, noticing that she already looked much better. His smile was short lived as a sensor alert sounded.
‘Captain, visual range on the targets’ said Lt. Bishop.
‘On screen’ he replied.
The view screen showed a number of Starfleet vessels in formation in front of the Trafalgar and other ships beyond them. The ships looked Klingon in design but were altered. Borg-like sections covered their surfaces and weapon and shield nodes were generating on the surfaces. Beyond that a large Borg Cube held its position outside a nebula.
‘Why did they stop here? We’re still light-years from Qo’Nos?’ asked Lt.Jnr Perim.
‘Fed up of being chased?’ joked Lt. Bishop.
‘I am getting strange readings from that nebula sir’ Lt. Brightman said. ‘The Cube seems to be sending gravimetric particles into it’
‘That would open up a temporary wormhole sir!’ exclaimed Ensign Silver.
‘They’re bringing in reinforcements. Send the information to the Admiral!’ ordered Captain Branagh.
‘Sir, the assimilated ships are moving towards the fleet’ noted Lt.Cmdr Frost.
‘Ready phasers and photon torpedoes. Shields to full power and fire on my mark!’ barked the Captain.
The small Borg vessels moved quickly between the larger Federation ships, firing cutting beams and gravimetric torpedoes as they went. Several Starfleet ships were badly damaged, one losing a nacelle that collided with the Trafalgar. Despite their size these assimilated ships were fully capable of doing as much damage as a Borg Cube. The Trafalgar was buffeted from every side as they took massive amounts of fire. The Defiant-class Ranger, Captain Delmar’s ship, came to their aid and poured quantum torpedoes and pulse phasers into the assimilated Klingon ship. The cannibalised ship broke apart sending debris into the paths of other ships, hitting shields and hulls. The small Federation ship left the Trafalgar’s side looking for more ships and Captain Branagh ploughed forward, phasers and torpedoes flying. Despite their superior numbers, the fleet was beginning to split up. Several ships had broken through and where headed to the Cube, but many where still engaged with the assimilated ships. The Trafalgar and a few others were on a course for the Cube, but they would be no match for it alone.
Captain Branagh stood steadfast on his bridge, front and centre and giving orders.
‘Who’s with us?’ he asked loudly, fighting the noise of battle.
‘The Admiral has broken through sir, as has the Friedman, the Melbourne and the Antares’ shouted Lt.Cmdr Frost.
‘Admiral Serok knows this isn’t enough, as him for his orders’ he said, sitting back in his Captain’s chair.
Cmdr. Gerard turned to him from her small console, her hair ruffled by the fighting.
‘Casualties coming in from decks 3, 7 and 13. Shields at 64% and holding’ she reported.
The comm sounded over the battle with bursts of static, as if someone was trying to get through but couldn’t. Suddenly the voice changed and became frightfully clear and loud.
‘Federation vessels, lower your shields and prepare to be assimilated. You will not postpone our attack against species 5008’ the collective voice said, chilling the crew to their cores. ‘Once your allies have been assimilated your fall is inevitable. Resistance is futile’
The comm abruptly fell silent, as did the bridge. The crew slowly got back to their duties and the noise level rose again. Captain Branagh looked at Cmdr. Gerard, both with looks of realisation.
‘They recognize the Klingons as an aid for us’ said the Captain.
‘They’re trying to tie a hand behind our backs. One species is easier to take than two’ Cmdr. Gerard added with a hint of finality.
‘Sir the nebula is receding’ Lt. Brightman piped up. ‘Looks as if the particles are being absorbed by something’
‘On screen!’ ordered the Captain.
The view screen zoomed in past the Cube and onto the nebula. It was shrinking fast and showed what looked like lightening inside. As it became smaller and smaller edges could be made out and a shape formed before the crew. A hexagon-shaped structure, Borg in origin and design, was exposed with a storm of energy inside it.
‘A transwarp portal’ said Ensign Silver, eyes glued to the screen like everyone else.
‘Feed this image to the fleet, they need to all get here, now!’ said the Captain firmly.
The transwarp portal shifted and pulsed with energy. The window to another quadrant of galaxy looked as if something was about to appear, leaving the crew in agonising suspense.
‘We can barely handle one Cube sir, what if another 2, 6 or 30 come out of there?’ asked Lt. Jnr Perim, audibly shaken.
‘Then Lieutenant…we die trying’ replied Captain Branagh, fists clenched hard.
First officer’s personal log, Stardate 54954.1. I am about to complete another shift of night watch, my fourth in a row. I have not been sleeping well but Doctor Kray has given me some ideas to try when I get off duty. Tonight’s shift has scanned five gaseous anomalies in this sector with another fifteen on sensors ahead of us.
‘…and so the bartended says, what is this a joke?’ said Lt.Jnr Will Tristram, eliciting only groans with his attempt to liven the night watch crew up.
‘Ensign Silver told that one last week at the poker game Will, not funny then, not funny now’ said Ensign Salo Mir at the ops station next to Lt.Jnr Tristram.
‘Well I thought it was…’ he started before the turbo lift doors opened and cut him off.
Captain David Branagh emerged from the turbo lift with Lt.Cmdr Harry Frost and Lt.Jnr Kell Perim. Other officers came out of the other turbo lift a few seconds later, including Lt. John Brightman.
‘I stand relived sir. Nothing to report other than we are about to reach our sixth anomaly’ said Cmdr. Gerard, standing from the Captain’s seat. ‘Oh, and that Lt. Kato’s brother had his first child, but I forwarded that to his quarters’
‘Very good Commander…now get some sleep. You look exhausted Sarah’ said the Captain, placing a hand on her arm.
‘Right away sir’ she replied and made for the turbo lift with the other night watch crew.
‘Begin day watch’ said the Captain as he sat down.
The turbo lift opened onto the officers quarters deck and Cmdr. Gerard and Lt.Jnr Tristram left Ensign Mir to go down a few decks more.
‘Sleep well sir’ said Lt.Jnr Tristram as he reached his quarters.
Cmdr. Gerard only smiled before walking on to her own room. She got inside and took her uniform off as fast as she could, leaving it draped over chairs and strewn across the floor. The low level hum of the sonic shower helped her to relax but not much. The disruptor burn on her leg from a month ago was still causing her pain. Doctor Kray had given her pain relief for it but she could still feel it. His natural sleep remedies didn’t work well either. She was still using stronger pain relief medicine without the Doctor’s knowledge and it was the only thing that helped her.
Stepping out of the shower she dispensed with a robe and went straight for the bed, grabbing the hypospray from the sink unit as she went. She stopped and looked at the other items on her bathroom surface, padds of alternative remedies Doctor Kray had given her for her pain. She nearly picked one up, but decided on her old way. She went to her bed and lay down, grabbing the covers around her before injecting herself and drifting off to sleep.
Seemingly almost as she drifted off to sleep, Cmdr. Gerard’s quarters filled with yellow intermittent light. Her eyes found it hard adjusting to the flashing lights of the yellow alert as she fumbled around her quarters for her uniform as the Captain’s voice came over the comm.
‘Senior officers report to the bridge’ he ordered.
Cmdr. Gerard pulled her shirt over her head and grabbed her jacket as she left her dimly illuminated quarters.
The turbo lift doors slid open before her and Cmdr. Gerard straightened herself out. She kept her tired and sleep-deprived head up as she made her way onto the bridge. She was greeted by Captain Branagh who showed concern on his face when he saw how tired his first officer looked.
‘Sarah, are you…’ he started quietly.
‘I’m fine sir, what’s the situation?’ she asked abruptly.
‘We’ve come across a Klingon ship that is badly damaged. Brightman, any life signs?’ Captain Branagh asked, keeping his eyes on Cmdr. Gerard as she massaged her forehead.
‘Negative sir, not picking up any life signs. Not even any dead bodies’ replied Lt. Brightman.
Captain Branagh finally removed his gaze from his first officer and made his way to the science station where Lt. Brightman was sitting. Cmdr. Gerard took her seat next to the Captain’s chair and started tapping at her console, trying to keep herself awake. Captain Branagh leaned on the console and looked over Lt. Brightman’s scans.
‘Did the crew abandon ship?’ he asked.
‘Not with the escape pods sir, they are all still attached’ Lt. Brightman replied. ‘They could of beamed to another ship but we cant tell from here’
‘Is there an atmosphere?’ asked the Captain, already planning ahead.
‘No sir, too many hull breaches’
Captain Branagh strode back to the middle of the bridge and faced the damaged ship on the view screen. Usually he would ask Cmdr. Gerard right away to put an away team together, but she was clearly in no fit state to do so.
‘Bishop and Brightman your with me. You have the bridge Commander’ he ordered.
‘But sir I…’ started Cmdr. Gerard, standing as quickly as she could.
‘That’s an order Commander. Keep scanning the area for ships’ said Captain Branagh as he and his team disappeared into the turbo lift.
The Captain seemed disappointed but not angry to Cmdr. Gerard. She fought through her tiredness so that she wouldn’t let him down any more. If whatever ship destroyed the Klingons came back they would need her to be ready and able. However with just about an hours sleep under her belt, she wasn’t at her full strength.
The white environmental suits of the away team emerged from the glittering transporter beams and the three officers found themselves weightless for a few seconds before they activated their magnetic boots. Lt. Brightman drew his tricorder and began scanning the large rips in the ships hull. The away team where on a deck yet where fully exposed to space above them and to their right. The whole bulkhead was stripped away leaving anyone inside exposed to space. There where no signs of bodies though, and the damage was very precise and clean. Almost as if the ship had been carved up by a precision beam. Lt. Bishop also held out a tricorder, scanning down what was left of the corridor behind them.
‘Sir, the bridge is just up there. I am reading feint power signatures, could be the computer is still operational. Power seems to be dwindling though sir, we need to hurry’ she said, pointing towards a large door.
‘Brightman stay here and scan the damage, we’ll check out the bridge’ ordered the Captain quietly.
With no power running through it the large door slid open easily in the vacuum. The two officers were once again greeted by no bodies and no debris floating around. The bridge was deadly silent and black, save for a small light on one of the consoles. The away team slowly made their way towards it, the magnetic boots slowly their pace across the metal deck. The eerie silence made Lt. Bishop nervous as always. She was fine with the suits and the zero-g, but she had never gotten used to the silence while outside of a ship. The only noise she had to comfort her was the sound of her own slightly fast breath. They reached the light and saw that the computer core was barely functioning.
‘We cant access it from here sir, all we can do is transfer the data to the Trafalgar and hope its accessible’ she said, controlling her breathing.
‘Alright. Brightman, get up here and get this data to the ship’ said Captain Branagh.
Lt. Brightman slowly moved onto the bridge and towards the console, trying to hurry as he wanted off the ship as quickly as Lt. Bishop did.
‘Captain, my scans show magnetic residue traces on the edges of the hull. It looks as if…’ Lt. Brightman started.
Captain Branagh’s blood ran cold in that moment but he tried not to show it to his team. He glanced at Lt. Bishop who had the same concerned and scared look in her eyes.
‘Yes Lieutenant I know what it could be. Gather the data from the core and lets get back to the ship’ he ordered.
As the transporter beam faded and the away team found themselves back in their transporter room. Lieutenants Bishop and Brightman both removed their helmets pretty quickly, welcoming the comparitivly loud noises of their ship and the more natural air. Captain Branagh held himself in more restraint and removed his normally before turning to them, his face grave and serious.
‘Brightman get to the bridge and start sorting through the data we collected. We need to find some sort of log entry or sensor information’ he said, his hands starting to tap on each other faster and faster. ‘Bishop get to tactical and start sensor sweeps of the entire area’
Back on the bridge the away team were greeted with confused looks. Captain Branagh had not informed the crew of their findings yet, he didn’t want to panic them too early. He approached Cmdr. Gerard, who looked less tired now but still not herself, and got her to sit down next to his Captain’s chair. They leaned in to each other so none of the crew could hear their discussion. As Lt. Brightman sat at his science console Ensign Leanne Silver leaned in from behind him, her eyes on the two command officers.
‘What are they being so quiet about?’ she asked, whispering herself.
‘Something I hope isn’t the case’ he replied, his eyes fixed on the data stream from the Klingon ship.
‘Well what did you find over there?’ she continued.
‘Nothing good’ he said, finally looking round to her, a look of fear in his eyes.
Lt. Brightman carried on pouring over the data until he came across files that looked like audio logs.
‘Sir, I think I have something, looks like audio recordings, but I don’t know when from’ he said.
Captain Branagh and Cmdr. Gerard looked up from their quiet conversation and stood up.
‘Lets hear the last one’ ordered the Captain.
Lt. Brightman tapped a few controls and a burst of audio static came over the comm. The message started to clear up and a Klingon voice could be heard through the disruption.
‘…ields down…weapons mal…We are the Borg, surrender your ship, we will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile…’ ended the message as the audio cut off abruptly.
Everyone on the bridge tensed up and some even gasped. Captain Branagh and Cmdr. Gerard turned to each other and just stared, worry and fear across both their faces.
‘Sir…what do we do now?’ asked Lt. Bishop slowly.
Captain Branagh snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his tactical officer.
‘Send our co-ordinates and all the information we’ve gathered to Starfleet. Ask what our orders are to be’ he said. ‘We will remain here until we know what to do’
‘Sir, I think I can trace the Borg vessel’s trajectory’ said Ensign Silver from her post. ‘There are strangely large amounts of gravitational eddys along course 274 mark 312’
‘Helm, project that course and find out where it leads’ said Cmdr. Gerard, finally getting into her stride after hours and hours of no sleep.
‘That course takes them into Klingon space sir…all the way to Qo’Nos’ replied Lt.Jnr Perim.
‘Why would they be heading for Qo’Nos?’ asked Lt. Bishop.
‘I don’t know, but that gives us someone else to contact…’ said Captain Branagh, stroking his chin slowly in thought.
A small Klingon Bird-of-prey pulled alongside he Trafalgar and came to stop. As always when these two ships met the Klingon ship looked much smaller but was just as capable and experienced. This was mainly down to her Captain, who was beaming aboard the Trafalgar to be greeted by Cmdr. Gerard in the transporter room. She smiled as Captain Kaloth appeared before her. With the way she was feeling she needed a familiar and overly-friendly greeting like his. He embraced the officer tightly and lifted her off the ground. She spoke through the constriction with humor in her voice.
‘I cant really help you if I cant breath Kaloth’
The Klingon let her down and patted her on the shoulder.
‘Sorry, but it has been too long since I have laid eyes on your radiant features!’ he bellowed.
‘Well we can catch up later, we have a serious problem to discuss first’ she said, her face dropping back to serious worry.
The two of them entered the observation lounge and were greeted by the senior officers sat around the large table. Two seats where left open for Captain Kaloth and Cmdr. Gerard. They took their seats and Captain Branagh started the meeting.
‘Kaloth we have intercepted a Borg ship traveling through our space to yours’ he said.
‘Borg?! Where did they come from?’ he asked loudly. This was the first time Cmdr. Gerard had seen the Klingon show any sign of fear or worry.
‘The gravitational effects we tracked are usually associated with wormholes. We think they came through one from the Delta quadrant’ said Lt. Brightman, explaining his findings.
‘Well where are they headed, you said Klingon space?’ asked the large, burly Captain.
‘Yes, they seem to be on course for Qo’Nos’ said Captain Branagh.
‘Then we must go at once!’ shouted Captain Kaloth, standing up.
Captain Branagh raised his hands to calm the Klingon down, urging him to sit again. Cmdr. Gerard placed a hand on Captain Kaloth’s shoulder as he sat again, patting it in reassurance.
‘We will be under way soon, we just have to wait for reinforcements from Starfleet’ she said, comforting Captain Kaloth.
‘What of the Klingon defense force? With the war against the renegades we are stretched thin as it is’ said Captain Kaloth.
‘That’s why Starfleet are sending ships. Whatever the Borg want with the Empire, we need to stop it. For both government’s sakes’ said Captain Branagh.
‘When will they arrive?’ asked the Klingon.
’12 hours from now. We are on the edge of Federation space, not many ships in the area’ replied Captain Branagh.
‘I will go on ahead and keep track of the ship’ Captain Kaloth said.
‘Your ship is no match for…’ started Cmdr. Gerard.
‘I will not engage them. I will cloak and stay back far enough to track them but be detected. Someone has to keep a tab on them’ he said, now reassuring the Commander.
‘Ok then Kaloth, if you can be our eyes on the vessel that would be a great help to our fleet and our home world’ said Captain Branagh. ‘Good luck Captain. Dismissed everyone’
The Kortov pulled away from the Trafalgar and disappeared with its cloaking device. All the Trafalgar could do was sit and wait for Starfleet to arrive and then maybe they could stop the ship. With the Borg incursions, even with new weapons and shields, all anyone could really do was attack and hope for the best. The Borg were a juggernaut and sometimes even a brick wall resistance couldn’t stop them. Countless civilizations had found that out to their cost and neither Earth nor Qo’Nos would be one of them. Not while Captain’s like Branagh and Kaloth had their say.
The hours past and Captain Kaloth intermittently reported in on the Cube’s status. He spoke of ships being attacked and turned into Borg vessels. The Cube seemed to be amassing a fleet of ships as it went. Kaloth confirmed that its course was a direct line to the Klingon home world. If the Cube reached it’s destination the Empire would not last long. His voice became more anxious with each message, but Cmdr. Gerard was always there to reply. She was on her twentieth hour since being prematurely woken and it was starting to show. Her face was pale and her eyes dark with tiredness. Yet she stayed at her post for as long as she was needed.
The Starfleet armada finally arrived and all thirty ships, now including the Trafalgar, got under way at maximum warp. Captain Branagh was both happy and concerned that some old friends where in the fleet. Captain Pall Miras, the Bajoran Captain of the Friedman, and Captain Delmar, an Andorian and Captain of the Ranger, were both in the fleet and had sent messages to Captain Branagh. He always wanted his friends at his side at times like these, but he knew not many ships came back when the Borg were involved. He stood at the engineering console, looking over the warp core levels as Lt. Kato Nasri kept the ship a warp nine. He looked over at his restless and tired first officer as she kept up with ship’s duties and made sure every station and crew member was ready for the oncoming fight. He walked down to his ready room and signaled for Cmdr. Gerard to follow him inside.
He went around his desk and sat in his chair, leaning forward and gesturing for Cmdr. Gerard to sit as well. Every time she sat somewhere it looked like a wave of euphoria over her face. She was so tired she could hardly walk for more than a few seconds.
‘Sarah, do I have to relieve you of duty?’ he asked her.
‘No sir, especially not at a time like this’ she gasped, but with the tiredness showing through.
‘You obviously need rest, and if you carry on like this you might make a mistake, and against the Borg we cant make mistakes’ he said, reaching out for her hand. She took it and he held her hand tight in his. ‘Go to sleep Sarah, that’s an order’
‘But sir…’ she started, but Captain Branagh raised his hand to stop her.
Cmdr. Gerard let go of his hand and made for the door. She got into a turbo lift without looking at the other officers, all busy with their duties.
The doors slid open and Cmdr. Gerard made her way to her quarters. As the doors opened she nearly collapsed there and then but managed to make it to her bed before doing so. She drifted off to sleep almost instantly, tiredness washing over her and knocking her out finally.
Once again an alert abruptly brought Cmdr. Gerard back to the waking world. This time it was red alert and she stirred much quicker. She had slept in her uniform so was already dressed for duty. She felt much better than before, rested and ready for anything. She attached her comm badge and ran out of her quarters for the bridge.
As the turbo lift doors opened Cmdr. Gerard saw the bridge a hub of activity, officers running to and fro, the ones at their stations looking serious and concentrating. Captain Branagh looked up at her and smiled, noticing that she already looked much better. His smile was short lived as a sensor alert sounded.
‘Captain, visual range on the targets’ said Lt. Bishop.
‘On screen’ he replied.
The view screen showed a number of Starfleet vessels in formation in front of the Trafalgar and other ships beyond them. The ships looked Klingon in design but were altered. Borg-like sections covered their surfaces and weapon and shield nodes were generating on the surfaces. Beyond that a large Borg Cube held its position outside a nebula.
‘Why did they stop here? We’re still light-years from Qo’Nos?’ asked Lt.Jnr Perim.
‘Fed up of being chased?’ joked Lt. Bishop.
‘I am getting strange readings from that nebula sir’ Lt. Brightman said. ‘The Cube seems to be sending gravimetric particles into it’
‘That would open up a temporary wormhole sir!’ exclaimed Ensign Silver.
‘They’re bringing in reinforcements. Send the information to the Admiral!’ ordered Captain Branagh.
‘Sir, the assimilated ships are moving towards the fleet’ noted Lt.Cmdr Frost.
‘Ready phasers and photon torpedoes. Shields to full power and fire on my mark!’ barked the Captain.
The small Borg vessels moved quickly between the larger Federation ships, firing cutting beams and gravimetric torpedoes as they went. Several Starfleet ships were badly damaged, one losing a nacelle that collided with the Trafalgar. Despite their size these assimilated ships were fully capable of doing as much damage as a Borg Cube. The Trafalgar was buffeted from every side as they took massive amounts of fire. The Defiant-class Ranger, Captain Delmar’s ship, came to their aid and poured quantum torpedoes and pulse phasers into the assimilated Klingon ship. The cannibalised ship broke apart sending debris into the paths of other ships, hitting shields and hulls. The small Federation ship left the Trafalgar’s side looking for more ships and Captain Branagh ploughed forward, phasers and torpedoes flying. Despite their superior numbers, the fleet was beginning to split up. Several ships had broken through and where headed to the Cube, but many where still engaged with the assimilated ships. The Trafalgar and a few others were on a course for the Cube, but they would be no match for it alone.
Captain Branagh stood steadfast on his bridge, front and centre and giving orders.
‘Who’s with us?’ he asked loudly, fighting the noise of battle.
‘The Admiral has broken through sir, as has the Friedman, the Melbourne and the Antares’ shouted Lt.Cmdr Frost.
‘Admiral Serok knows this isn’t enough, as him for his orders’ he said, sitting back in his Captain’s chair.
Cmdr. Gerard turned to him from her small console, her hair ruffled by the fighting.
‘Casualties coming in from decks 3, 7 and 13. Shields at 64% and holding’ she reported.
The comm sounded over the battle with bursts of static, as if someone was trying to get through but couldn’t. Suddenly the voice changed and became frightfully clear and loud.
‘Federation vessels, lower your shields and prepare to be assimilated. You will not postpone our attack against species 5008’ the collective voice said, chilling the crew to their cores. ‘Once your allies have been assimilated your fall is inevitable. Resistance is futile’
The comm abruptly fell silent, as did the bridge. The crew slowly got back to their duties and the noise level rose again. Captain Branagh looked at Cmdr. Gerard, both with looks of realisation.
‘They recognize the Klingons as an aid for us’ said the Captain.
‘They’re trying to tie a hand behind our backs. One species is easier to take than two’ Cmdr. Gerard added with a hint of finality.
‘Sir the nebula is receding’ Lt. Brightman piped up. ‘Looks as if the particles are being absorbed by something’
‘On screen!’ ordered the Captain.
The view screen zoomed in past the Cube and onto the nebula. It was shrinking fast and showed what looked like lightening inside. As it became smaller and smaller edges could be made out and a shape formed before the crew. A hexagon-shaped structure, Borg in origin and design, was exposed with a storm of energy inside it.
‘A transwarp portal’ said Ensign Silver, eyes glued to the screen like everyone else.
‘Feed this image to the fleet, they need to all get here, now!’ said the Captain firmly.
The transwarp portal shifted and pulsed with energy. The window to another quadrant of galaxy looked as if something was about to appear, leaving the crew in agonising suspense.
‘We can barely handle one Cube sir, what if another 2, 6 or 30 come out of there?’ asked Lt. Jnr Perim, audibly shaken.
‘Then Lieutenant…we die trying’ replied Captain Branagh, fists clenched hard.