The Enemy (Part 8 of 8)

Posted on 18 Sep 2013 @ 8:57pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Lieutenant Ammar Fahad & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley & Ensign S'Ranna T'Srrr'Kharh & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Lieutenant JG Jacrux & Ensign Ariadne Fleming & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Tarishiana Barel & Alexander Iella & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Petty Officer 1st Class Victarion Jaqen & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley" & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont

2,270 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Main Bridge, Various
Timeline: MD 03 - 0214 hrs

Previously, on The Enemy (Part 7)...

Quinn was wrestling with a voice that entered his head as his body went flying over the railing and was stuck dangling as his only available hand was clinching the railing with all his might. He witnessed his friend flying across the room while the voice of his Imzadi was screaming for his help as she was being assimilated. Quinn's eyes filled with tear and hatred coursed his very soul. He let loose a primal scream that surely would be heard through the quietness of space...."NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

Ammar was thrown away from the console he was standing at. He hit the floor. Hard. He gasped breathlessly and rolled to his side, desperately trying to refill his lungs with air. He shuddered as he took a heaving breath, and another. He rolled to his knees, tears streaming down into the stubble on his cheeks.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Bridge

Scarlet groaned as she rolled onto her back, having been tossed carelessly to the ground once more. She held the back of her head with pain. It was the third hit it had had. She felt the blood but sat up slowly, breathing through the way her vision swam in circles. "Report!"

Jacob's face went white as he picked himself off the floor. "What we have here is... failure to extricate... ourselves from that menace.." He turned to Blake, "Commander, they know all our weakness and our tactics because they have Commander Holliday's thoughts... it is my strong opinion that we abandon ship immediately as we are not going to be able to jump.. and as the Captain had set off the self destruct sequence before she lost consciousness."

Aria breathed hard as she looked at the console, frowning. The few Security officers had now secured the bridge, keeping their weapons towards the turbolift. Just in case. Which meant she could focus on this. The feeling of helplessness. "We've lost the shields again!" she shouted, shaking her head as she pushed the console. Blasted things. Blasted situation. She was angry. Not entirely sure why, but she was angry at herself and everything.

Mor'an dragged herself to her station, realizing that something more was amiss. "Our port nacelle!" she yelled to Blake, "We have lost our port nacelle! It is gone!" She slid down to the floor and sat for a moment surveying the Bridge around her. So many were dead, injured or, worse yet, assimilated. She found herself looking over to where Jacob was, infinitely glad that he was still alive.

The helm console had been one of the few not to be damaged during the fight on the Bridge, and thanks to S'Ranna's fastidiousness it had been swept clean. It almost looked serene amidst the carnage.

And then it exploded.

With a shriek of pain the Caitian reeled back, only just managing to remain on her hindpaws as her forepaws leapt to her face, feeling the jagged cuts shattering debris had wrought on her furry features. She could taste the metallic tang of blood on her tongue. But worse than any physical pain was the sight of the navigational array dead and ruined. Any remaining navigational functions would have to be routed through a different console, limiting fine adjustments: but with the nacelle blown out, it didn't seem like that would be much of a concern anyway. She collapsed to her haunches trying not to sob.

Victarion closed his eyes, breathing slowly to calm his mind. "We have multiple casualties. The reports are still coming in. We also have several MIA...no combadge signatures."

Deciding to stay kneeling on the ground in case he was thrown off his chair again, Jac glared at the readings as if they were to blame for the dire news he had to tell. "The hull is breached, several serious," he glanced at Blake, gauging her reaction. "I'm not sure how we're still in one piece. The structural integrity is nearly non-existent."

Victoria's head jerked forward violently when the ship lurched, but this time, she was able to hold on to one of the the consoles and stay seated. She looked down at the sensor readings and back up at Blake, her eyes wide and her chest getting a bit tight. "We've got more Borg coming in; they're beaming all over the ship."

Scarlet took all the bad news in, her heart sinking with each assessment. She stood in the middle of the bridge, hands on her hips, facing the forward screen in silence. It was over. There was no one close enough to rescue them. More Borg were already on the ship. They had swathes of crew already injured or probed. Helm was gone. Never had the warning 'resistance is futile' felt so apt. She wasn't just a chief counsellor. She was an ex-marine. She knew when a battle was lost.

Scarlet knew when there were only two options. To let them take them, or to blow the ship.

Scarlet knew that if she blew the ship, it would be with all hands onboard. Evacuating wouldn't help. The pods would just all be collected by the Borg, the crew assimilated and their secrets entered into the collective. If she was going to blow the ship, which seemed the only option left, it would be without an evacuation.

But Scarlet was also a mother. And her little girl was on the ship. The thought of destroying the ship with her on it, and not even being with her in those final moments. It was breaking her heart.

Scarlet's features remained as cool and neutral as ever though. Not giving any of her struggle away. The rest of the bridge crew had to realise that this was not a situation they were going to get out of. Not with the last assessment. She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak.

The emergency lights on Galileo's bridge went dark, and the viewscreen suddenly shimmered then flickered to display the terrible portrait of a Borg drone whose optical implant cast a red beam into the image. His voice echoed loudly across all of the Nova Class's decks.

"USS GALILEO NCC-EIGHT-ZERO-ZERO-ONE-ZERO -- WE ARE THE BORG, PROTECTORS OF PLANET NINE-ONE-NINE-THREE-FIVE -- SURRENDER YOUR VESSEL AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED -- WE WILL ESCORT YOU TO SECTOR ZERO-TWO-FOUR, GRID ZERO-NINE. IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY, YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

Jacob raised his left eyebrow, "What in the name of Carl Sagan is this?" He was absolutely confused, "The Borg as protectors of a planet? And... they will not HARM us AND escort us out of the sector?? What kind of bullshit is going on???" He was flustered, angry and in the mood to exterminate every single one of those zombie wanna-bes.

Aria looked around before shaking her head. "What the..." she looked oer at Blake, her eyes wide. Since when did the Borg ask for surrender? Whatever happened with 'resistance is futile, we will assimilate your arses?'

Victoria looked at the screen for a minute, confused and more than a little bit scared. What the hell? They were toying with them, she knew it. They never just asked you to surrender; they just assimilated and that was the end of it. What do you want, you creepy little bastards?

S'Ranna was too lost in fear and grief to take much notice of the strange transmission, but she was still a Flight Control Officer. Numb with shock and shivering fitfully, she padded over to what was left of her console and brought up on the only remaining screen the coordinates. She had not stopped to consider how strange all this was or reason why the Borg were acting this way: such thoughts were beyond her at the moment.

"Quiet," Scarlet ordered, lifting a hand to silence the bridge crew, in case this....Borg took their words as a response. If they were in control of their view screen, then they probably already had an open comm with them. Scarlet stared at the horrific form on the screen with as much disbelief as the others. What the....had she hit her head too many times? You will not be harmed? She'd never seen that written up in ANY report on the Borg. Ever. She just stared for a moment, blinking, taking a slow, deep breath.

"Borg vessel, this is Lt. Commander Blake of the starship Galileo," she raised her voice to make it clear she was replying directly to them. "We mean the planet under your protection no harm," hell, that was a strange phrase to be saying to the Borg. "We know that more of you are on our ship. We will surrender on the condition that no further crew members will be implanted with nanoprobes," she wanted to be clear on the term 'harmed'. As it could be argued that it wasn't 'harming' to implant nanoprobes.

The drone on the screen didn't flinch or blink. It was a perfect soldier, one unaffected by emotion or any pleas for mercy. Its orders were clear. "IRRELEVANT. YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TERRITORY. SURRENDER YOUR VESSEL OR YOU WILL ALL BE ASSIMILATED. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED." it repeated.

"Confirm that no further crew members will be injected with nanobots if we surrender," Scarlet pressed, firmly, her head throbbing too hard to be patient.

"IRRELEVANT. SURRENDER YOUR VESSEL." came the familiar and chilling reply. The Borg consciousness apparently did not understand the Starfleet objection to being assimilated.

Scarlet lifted her hand, pointing to the screen, her voice becoming tighter and louder. "Those are the conditions. You take them, or you leave them. No more injected crewmembers and we surrender. If there's no guarantee, there's no surrender. I'll blow this ship with all hands on it. Yours and mine. Let's see how your cube likes riding warp core breeches."

Staring back at Scarlet without so much as a word, the Borg drone took a long moment to process the demands of the Federation crew. Millions of calculations were processed in its cerebral cortex with the collective consent of its entire collective. A dead crew was unable to be assimilated, and therefore was not a desirable outcome, it decided. Finally -- after what seemed like a brief eternity -- it replied.

"WE WILL COMPLY. SURRENDER YOUR VESSEL. WE WILL BRING YOU TO SECTOR ZERO-TWO-FOUR, GRID ZERO-NINE." it agreed. "WE WILL REMAIN ON BOARD YOUR VESSEL. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO RESIST, YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

The viewscreen flickered and the image cut out, replaced by the massive black and green hull of the cube. A bright green flash suddenly illuminated the bridge through the monitor as a Borg tractor beam locked on to Galileo in preparation to tow it deeper into the Setisar Nebula to the designated coordinates.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Scarlet let out a long, tight breath before moving to take a seat. Had she really just negotiated with the Borg? Something was definitely amiss with this cube full of drones.

Scarlet opened up a channel for a ship wide broadcast. =^= All hands, we have surrendered to the Borg. Do not initiate any further combat with the drones onboard. Repeat, do not initiate any combat with the drones onboard. =^=

Scarlet closed the comm and looked over some of the reports coming in. "Mor'an, sure up the ship for the trip."

"Aye, m'lady," Mor'an replied, scrambling into the chair at her station as quickly as possible, setting to work on preparing the ship.

Scarlet hit her commbadge, taking a tight breath. =^= Bridge to Engineering, we're being tractored, make sure we don't rip apart under the stress of it. =^=

Quinn had dropped to the lower level by this time and Willis was rousing, while holding the gash on the top of his scalp. Markum tapped his combadge just before he knelt down next to Ammar. =^=Quinn here. Aye.=^=

Quinn put a hand on Fahad's shoulder. "C'mon, Sir. We need to patch this old girl up and hope the hell the guys up on the Bridge know what they are doing."

Fahad finally managed to catch his breath for long enough to stand. "Of course chief." He coughed. It brought tears to his eyes again. When he looked around engineering he saw Borg drones entering the compartment. Panic flashed over his face followed closely by confusion. Nobody was fighting them. He must have missed something important while he was trying to recover from the jolt.

Willis moved slowly over to the MSD and placed both hands on the sides of the table. "Shit, if we do anything, it's going to have to be all manual. The whole system is shot to hell."

Ammar leaned over Willis' shoulder. "Well then, we'd better get to it. Maybe some of the Venture staff would be willing to help out. We can also recruit some operations personnel to assist." Galileo's newest Chief Engineer turned to the Chief of the Boat. "If you wouldn't mind sticking around and helping, Chief, we'd appreciate it."

Scarlet sat back in the seat, gripping the arms as she leant her throbbing head back against the headrest. She had no idea which way this path was going to twist, but at least, for now, they seemed to have reached an accord.

[OFF]

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