The Alpha and the Delta

by aman04

On the eve of peace with the Romulans, a threat that the Federation thought they had destroyed rises to power and begins a full invasion of the Alpha Quadrant.

The Excalibur, a Nebula Class Vessel, dropped out of warp with its shields raised and weapons armed to find a battle already in progress. As Excalibur was steered through the barrage of torpedoes sent out by the Borg Sphere, the sphere scanned the ship's shields and managed to hit the daring ship right on the port nacelle.
The bridge was a scene of utter chaos.
"Do we have anymore information on this transwarp conduit?" Captain Susan Graham asked with her caring, yet abrupt voice.
"Negative!" The Ops Officer, Commander Jessica Kamen, scrolled through information of data as the torpedo collided with the nacelle, causing several alarms to blare, and the lights on the bridge to dim. "Port-side nacelle has been hit!" Kamen reported.
Graham stood up, trying to brace her for any further impact. "Rotate shield modulation!"
Lieutenant Commander Erik Jenson, the Chief Tactical and Security Officer pounded in commands on his console. "Captain! I am reading an un- identified Starfleet signature coming through the aperture."
Commander Kevin Thayer, the ship's first officer, looked around the bridge in panic. "Stay sharp! It could be a false signature!"
"Negative!" Kamen shouted just as the small object hit the sphere. The small amount of lighting that seen on the sphere went to nil as it exploded in a red fireball.
"Re-enforcing forward shields," Jenson said as the blast hit the ship, causing a slight vibration.
Alarms rang out once again on the bridge; Excalibur lurched toward the conduit.

"I am being signalled to stand down," Kamen said with a curious look on her face. "I am reading Starfleet contact on sensors; Intrepid-class.. Sir, its Voyager!"
Graham stood up and saw the small Intrepid-class vessel speed by on the viewer. "Inform Starfleet. Stand down to yellow alert. Follow them."
Lieutenant (JG) Robert Ogden, the helm officer, made a swift turn and began the "pursuit" of Voyager. The lights fell dark on the bridge several times during the pursuit because of failed power couplings caused by the nacelle blast.
Admiral Paris' face came onto the main viewer. There were several people cheering and hugging in the background. Admiral Paris, who seldom had a smile on his face, was grinning so wide that his teeth could have blinded the naked eye. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "Voyager is home."
The cheering began on the bridge as Ogden made a sudden dash to Voyager's side.
Graham smiled slightly and thought as though things were already beginning to look up for the Federation.

3 Months After the Reman "Incident"

Captain's Log, Stardate 54673.2:

Life aboard our new Sovereign II Class Vessel is something to which I have become accustomed. The quarters are spacious, the bridge is highly advanced, and the engineering section is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. With the recent signing of the Romulan-Federation Free Trade Pact, the Romulans are allowing several Federation and Klingon trade convoys to enter deep within their space. Our new commission, the USS Excalibur-A, has been deployed to provide assistance to a convoy of about 50 freighters if any trouble should arise.

Graham rose from her seat in the ready room and looked out the window. She pondered the mysteriously peaceful state of the quadrant. The chime of the Comm and the blaring of the klaxon made Graham jump.
"Thayer to Captain Graham. We have received an urgent distress call from the Romulan Trade Convoy. They claim to be under attack by Klingon heavy destroyers."
"What can long-range sensors tell us?" Graham said as she entered the bridge.
Kamen looked down at her console. "There are 5 unidentified ships and large discharges of energy."
Graham paced slightly and then came to a decision. "The convoy has an Akira and an Intrepid. Set a course for the Romulan convoy; maximum warp."
Ogden pulled the ship slightly to port and engaged high warp toward the Romulan convoy.

USS Excalibur has exited primary sensor range.
Prepare Federation vessels for assimilation.

Slowly but surely, two Borg cubes moved in and fired on a freighter, immediately sending it into hundreds of pieces. The Akira Class vessel that Graham had spoken of, the USS Hampton, quickly turned around and fired a barrage of quantum torpedoes at the forward Borg Cube. The Federation ships inflicted little damage upon the large Borg cube, which was now bearing down on the small, doomed Akira.
The Hampton made a swift turn to the right to avoid hitting the Borg vessel. A lime-green tractor beam shot out of the upper area of the cube, holding the Hampton in its grip. Several lime-green balls of light shot out of the Borg vessel, inflicting damage that was beyond repair upon the small Akira. The Hampton fired her phasers and torpedoes at the cube, but almost nothing happened.
Borg drones beamed aboard the dying ship and assimilated the crew. The Borg had eliminated resistance aboard the Akira. The Borg was quick to destroy the freighters and the small Intrepid-Class Fuji.

When the Excalibur dropped out of warp, they found a scene of utter destruction. Something had ripped the Romulan Convoy to pieces; however, the energy signatures found on the ships' hulls were of unknown origin.
"Are you reading any life signs?" Graham asked.
Kamen peered down at her console and looked somewhat displeased. "Negative."
Ogden looked extremely sad. "My best friend was aboard one of those ships. He was a Prisoner of War who was being released to us."
Thayer stood up and walked to the view screen. He shook his head in dismay. ".On the eve of peace with the Romulans, and their convoy is destroyed."
"My question is not why, but by whom." Graham turned to Lieutenant Arnold Sarya, the Bridge Science Officer.
Sarya had been studying his console silently while the crew had been observing the destruction. "The energy signatures match those found on Starfleet vessels at Wolf 359 and after other Borg incursions."
The bridge fell silent and the tension level rose dramatically. Thayer took his seat as Graham looked contently at the science scans on her console.
"Lieutenant Ogden: Set a course for the nearest Star base. Get us there now." Graham seemed disturbed and the others returned the feeling on the bridge.
Ogden followed orders and turned the ship toward the neutral zone. There was a sudden power surge, then silence. The silence was eerie and the crew on the bridge could hear things that they had never imagined before. The silence was broken when the ship suddenly burst out of warp and ended up on its side. The klaxon immediately sounded, the bridge went dark and the ship's shields, weapons, and internal defence systems came online.
"Report!" Thayer demanded. Kamen, who was on the floor, struggled up to her station. "Port-side nacelle impact! I am reading one. no, two Borg cubes closing in our position. Warp drive is offline; we have impulse engines and emergency warp reserves only."
Graham moved herself forward out of her seat and stood up with much difficulty. "Divert all emergency power to weapons and shields. Bring armour systems online. Evacuate all non-essential personnel and civilians to emergency areas; dump the cargo bays if necessary and take life support energy from any presently uninhabited area of the ship."
Thayer pressed a button on his console; the all-call COMM turned on. "All hands remain at battle stations."
After Kamen released the contents of the cargo bay, their respective doors and layers of the recently installed armour sealed them.
"Captain," Thayer said as he walked closer, "perhaps now would be a good time to test the effectiveness of the Linux-Class fighters." Thayer raised his eyebrows.
Graham sighed and hit the all-call COMM as three quantum torpedoes bombarded one of the oncoming cubes. "Attention fighter hands. Please report to the upper shuttle bay for immediate departure."
Thayer looked up at the view screen and noticed that none of the pulse phaser turrets were firing. He turned and looked at Jenson. "You do know that the hull has rotational pulse phaser turrets. don't you?"
Jenson worked on his console; several small lumps began to emerge on the armour of the hull. "Aye, sir." Jenson said as he fired several rounds at the lead cube.
In return to this sudden display of force, both of the cubes began to show much more force. They quickly adapted to the tactical and defensive manoeuvres of the small fighters, and subsequently destroyed three of them.
"Re-call the fighters!" Graham ordered. "Too many have been lost already."
The fighters returned to the shuttle bay just as the ship lost its last layer of aft shielding.
Thayer tapped his COMM badge. "Thayer to engineering; is warp drive online yet?"
Lieutenant Angela Miller, the Chief Engineer, had been in engineering ever since the initial attack. The warp core had just powered up when Thayer's page came over the loud speaker.
Angela looked at a display of warp plasma flow near the warp core. "The warp core is back online; but warp plasma is in suspended animation. It will be about five minutes before I can get it flowing again."
"MLSS?" Graham asked.
Kamen looked down at her console. "The aft shields are completely gone. Aft armour is at 87% and holding. All other shield layers are at 68% and falling rapidly. Armour has diverted power to compensate for the shield loss, so other armour systems are at 95%."
Just as Kamen spoke, Excalibur received a full tip to port from an oncoming barrage of gravimetric torpedoes. A falling panel knocked Thayer unconscious, and the force of the impact threw Kamen across the bridge.
Ogden immediately turned the ship toward the lead cube. Jensen fired a barrage of quantum torpedoes and several phaser shots from all phaser banks at a concentrated location on the cube.
The cubes responded by firing several hundred torpedoes at vulnerable areas of the ship, taking armour integrity down by dramatic levels.
Kamen had gathered herself onto her console and was now bracing herself in several areas. "Forward armour integrity is down to 15%! Armour on the forward area of the star drive section has failed!" Several gravimetric torpedoes slammed the deflector shield, causing the medical team carrying Thayer to the turbo lift to collapse.
"ENGINEERING, ESTABLISH AN ANTI-FEEDBACK PULSE ON THE EPS AND POWER- TRANSFER CONDUITS!" Graham shouted as she saw the deflector dish turn a crimson red on her console. The impacts on the deflector dish completely severed it and the area around it from the rest of the ship, allowing them to float straight out of the engineering section. A massive explosion rocked the star drive section and the areas of the saucer nearest the deflector dish. A series of high- energy force fields and the anti-feedback pulse that Graham had ordered saved Engineering from any damage.
The computer chimed on the all-call. "Warp drive is online."
Graham stood up and stumbled to the front of the bridge, trying to resist the motion of the vibrations. "Set a course for Federation outpost 4-Alpha; maximum warp. Dispatch a general warning message to all vessels in the area. Send out general distress calls on all subspace channels." Graham took her seat as the first officer's console burst into flames. "Engage!" The ship made a swift 180° turn to starboard, allowing the starboard side
of the star drive section to collide with the remains of the deflector
dish. After about four seconds of shedding debris, Excalibur engaged
maximum warp and was on its way to the neutral zone.

USS Excalibur has retreated. Set course 090 to Rendezvous at primary
mission objective: Romulus

Graham rubbed her temples as she entered Engineering. Her head had been bugging her since the initial findings on the Romulan freighters. The doors to engineering opened, and Graham saw one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life. Everyone in Engineering seemed to be helping one another make repairs; it was truly humankind working in harmony for the better.
Graham switched her gaze to the oddly shaped pentagonal reaction chamber of the warp core. She saw Miller sneaking up behind her, so she decided to make it clear that Miller could not play small tricks. "The design of this reaction chamber still sparks my interest. How many systems are online?" Graham turned around and confirmed her suspicion.
"All five of the reactors are online, sir." Miller replied. "Your helm officer did a great job of destroying the starboard side of the engineering hull." Miller walked to what looked like a large desk; she typed in a few commands on the console.
"What are you doing?" Graham asked.
A hologram of Excalibur travelling at high warp with ping signals coming from the deflector appeared. "I'm showing you something that I thought was interesting." Two gravimetric torpedoes hit the image, one on the port nacelle, and the other on the dorsal area of the engineering hull. The hologram dropped out of warp to a slow impulse, while its port nacelle vented plasma.
"So explain to me what is happening." Graham commanded. Plasma began to vent from the hologram's nacelle; the hologram paused for a moment and zoomed in on the nacelle where it displayed a cross-section map across the damaged area. "What we're seeing now is the plasma suppression system beginning to activate. The plasma being vented from the nacelles is allowed to be released from the sealed area of the nacelle." The cross-section map showed the area venting plasma turn yellow. The holographic animation resumed; the plasma stopped venting.
Graham nodded and looked pleased. "That's very impressive; even though it is standard on all ships."
"Ah!" Said Miller, "But our system uses a series of force fields to re-activate that area of the nacelle."
"Really?" Graham said, shocked more than ever. "That's very good."
Four green bars went up all around the holographic animation, as the ship's armour deployed. "The green bars show the strength of the MLSS and the armour, the armour being the innermost bar." Miller said confidently. The animation zoomed out to show the two Borg Cubes firing upon what now appeared to be a small speck. "Computer, zoom back to previous level." When the animation went back down to the ship's level, the cargo bays closed. "Increase animation speed by a factor of 3." There was phaser fire from all of the upper and lower arrays as the animation performed highly erratic manoeuvres.
Graham moved closer to the animation and paced around it a few times.
Several bumps emerged in the armour and began firing repeatedly in concentrated directions. Miller looked intently at the animation. "Those must be the hull-mounted pulse-phaser turrets." The animation continued without showing any of the fighters. The efficiency of their vessel impressed both Miller and Graham by the time the animation had ended.
"Computer, please display full exterior animation in rotation mode." Graham commanded.
The animation switched to the present exterior view, revealing horrifying damage to the star drive section and the forward area of the saucer section.
"Damage report." Graham demanded.
Miller looked down at her console. "Hull breaches on all decks on the star drive section; the damage is mostly confined to the starboard side of the main engineering hull and where the deflector dish should be." Miller brought up a schematic of the warp nacelles. "Although we have the technology to keep both nacelles fully operational after being damaged, it would drain too much from our power reserves. The Starboard Nacelle has been rigged to bring the aft field coils online; the same goes for the port nacelle."
The all-call speaker chimed in. "All senior officers report to the bridge." It was Ogden, and he sounded worried.

Graham and Miller entered the bridge from the portside turbo lift. The yellow condition lights were flashing and the bridge was more dim than usual. The entire senior staff, including Thayer, had gathered aboard the bridge at Ogden's request. The ship had obviously dropped out of warp because the view screen was showing a large debris field ahead, and the ship was travelling closer at sub-light speeds.
"Report." Graham requested.
Kamen looked down at her console, intent on studying it. "We are closing in on a debris field. There are seven federation log buoys deployed in this sector."
Thayer looked disturbed. "Can we identify the ships that they came from?"
Kamen looked at her console again. "Negative. I can tell you that five of the buoys are from freighters, and the other two buoys are from light cruisers."
"That would be consistent with some of the federation ships in the convoy." Sarya said.
Graham took her seat. "Open hailing frequencies."
There was a chime from the computer. "Hailing frequencies open." Kamen reported.
"I am Captain Susan Graham of the Federation Ship Excalibur." Graham stood up and looked at Kamen.
Kamen looked a little distraught. "Captain, something is picking up this signal I just don't know what."
"Shall I bring weapons online?" Jenson asked.
Graham shook her head. "No. But bring armour systems online."
The armour powered up, coating the ship in a shell of silver. Excalibur moved closer to the debris field and saw again a scene of utter destruction.
Thayer suddenly remembered something. "All stop!" He commanded. "Are any of the secondary deflectors online?" He asked.
Miller went to the engineering station and typed in a few commands on the console. "Now they are."
"Resume course and speed, Lieutenant." Graham said. "And thank you for realizing that, Commander."
Thayer nodded in reply. Without the secondary deflectors, the possibility of a collision with a large piece of debris was extremely elevated.
"We are approaching the first vessel." Ogden said.
Kamen worked on her console, scanning every piece of debris with great care. "I have identified the first vessel. It is Akira-Class. the USS Hampton, sir. There have been massive decompressions on every deck. Her starboard Nacelle is gone and the bridge has been completely ripped off of the saucer section."
Graham looked intently at Kamen. "Are you reading any life signs?"
Kamen scrolled through the scan. "Aye -- there are sixteen faint life signs; however we won't be able to transport over. There is too much subspace interference."
Graham smiled and tapped the all-call button. "Attention Shuttle- Bay. Prepare two Blackhawks for immediate departure."
"Commander Jenson, Lieutenant Ogden, and Lieutenant Miller: Stay aboard. You have the bridge, Erik." Graham said as she boarded the turbo lift with Sarya, Kamen, and Thayer.
As the turbo lift doors closed, Thayer spoke. "I don't have to remind you that I'm completely against you being here."
Graham nodded. "Yes, but. no one else on the bridge, except for Ogden of course, knows how to pilot a Blackhawk."
"Computer, please supply us with EVA suits." Thayer said. There was a small power surge as EVA suits appeared on the crew in the turbo lift.

The Blackhawk-Class runabout launched quickly from the shuttle bay, turning hard to port as soon as it had cleared the rear of the ship. Kamen, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, shuddered slightly due to the steep angle.
"Can you please try not to cut it so steep next time?" Kamen said irritably.
Graham chuckled. "You have to get used to this. What's going to happen when you're required to get yourself into a Linux-class fighter in a matter of minutes?"
"Have you ever been in a Linux before?" Kamen asked. "They have a centre of gravity that remains constant, even when you're upside down."
"I have been in a Linux-Class before, and they're quite comfy." Graham turned the shuttle toward the Hampton's shuttle bay.
"Signal Commander Thayer's shuttle to fall back and watch." Graham said.
Kamen looked slightly surprised, but followed through. "Captain. the shuttle bay aboard the Hampton is not responding to remote commands. How are we to get in?"

Graham smirked and moved over to the weapons console. "Can you take phaser energy down by half?"

"Aye, sir." Kamen worked on her console for a moment. "Weapons are charged and ready."
Graham hit a button on her console and the pulse phasers fired, breaking the shuttle bay door in. Graham moved back to the helm. "Jessica, Power down impulse reactors. I want thrusters only."
Kamen typed something on her console that caused the ship to stop abruptly.
Graham steered the large runabout into the Hampton's shuttle bay, landing with the softest touch in the galaxy. "Computer, scan for any Borg life signs."

The computer chimed. "There are five Borg life signs present aboard this vessel. Exact locations of the Borg are not known."
Kamen hit a button on her console causing a panel on the wall to flip over, revealing two phaser rifles. "I hope you're a sharp shooter. The rifles are both set to a different modulation but the firing rate is still the same."
Graham grabbed one of the rifles and cocked the charger. "Lock and load."
No sooner had Graham and Kamen departed his or her shuttle when Commander Thayer, accompanied by a shuttle pilot, landed in his shuttle.
Kamen, carrying a med kit and armed with a phaser rifle, greeted Thayer. "Hello Commander. Will you carry a med kit for me?" She shoved the med kit on him.
The shuttle pilot exited with med kit at hand, and two phaser rifles. "Here you go, sir," he said, handing one of the rifles to Thayer.
"What do I look like, a storage bin?" Thayer said.
Graham chuckled. "Everyone stay together. Do not separate under any circumstances. Fire on Borg only. if you see any partially assimilated humans, stun them."
The troop walked to the door leading to the main corridor. Kamen went to a small console on the side of the door and took out her tricorder.
"Let me attempt to restore emergency power." Kamen pressed a few buttons on her tricorder, and then took out a small pen-like device that had a cord on one end and a small laser on the other. She plugged the laser into the console and the cord into her tricorder and began to work on her tricorder.
There was a sudden surge of power as the main shuttle bay's lights went on and the entrance to the corridor opened. The troop slowly went into the hallway, everyone looking both ways for signs of the Borg.
"Captain," Thayer said, "something disturbs me." The troop went around a corner; Thayer's tricorder was blaring danger ahead.
"Perhaps it's that we're on-board a ship running on emergency power, with five Borg inside," Kamen said sarcastically.
Thayer sighed. "No. It's the fact that Voyager had reported the Borg's central unicomplex destroyed, yet somehow they're still alive."
The computer system installed in the EVA suits beeped. "Warning: Borg life sign detected ahead. Warning: Borg life sign detected ahead."
Graham and Kamen took up their weapons.
"I'll go ahead. you cover me." Kamen said to Graham.
Kamen rounded another corner and saw three Borg standing near the entrance to engineering. Kamen began to walk faster, but Graham held her back.
"Get as close as you can and then fire." Graham said.
The troop was within two metres when the Borg noticed them and began to walk toward the officers with their assimilation tubules extended.
"Fire!" Graham shouted, shooting a phaser blast at the first.
The Borg just continued walking forward, not affected by the phaser blast.
"Computer, re-modulate phasers to different modulations and firing modes in the upper bandwidths!" Thayer shouted as he walked backwards with the rest of the group.
"Phasers have been re-modulated. You may fire at will." The computers responded.
Everyone in the group fired at a Borg, each time killing the Borg.
Kamen quickly attached a transport marker to one of the Borg then ran through with the rest of the group. They rounded a corner and their computers beeped again.
"Attention: three human life signs detected ahead," The computers stated.
The troop cautiously moved forward toward the life signs. The crew saw in front of them a woman and her two children. The Borg had partially assimilated the woman and the children were unconscious.
The woman shifted slightly and moaned in pain. When she saw the crew coming towards her she attempted to stand. "Help me, please!" The woman begged with tears rolling down her half-Borg face.
Thayer looked at Graham. "How are we to proceed?"
"I. I. do not know," Graham replied solemnly.
Kamen stepped forward. "Perhaps a tranquilliser would suffice."
Graham nodded. "Try to get her with a hypospray, Jessica. If worst comes to worst, we will stun her."
Kamen took the medical kit from Thayer and opened it. She typed in a numeric code on the keypad next to the hypospray device. "This should put her into a deep sleep." Kamen walked cautiously towards the woman who was sliding across the floor.
"What are you going to do?" She asked as Kamen injected the hypospray. The woman immediately fell asleep.
Thayer went to a wall console and accessed it with his tricorder. The console immediately lit up. Thayer tapped a few buttons to bring internal sensors online. "Captain Graham, this is the fifth Borg life sign."
Graham looked somewhat surprised and she turned toward the woman. "Jessica, are you sure that was enough?"
Kamen scanned the woman with her tricorder. "Yes. Her body is in a temporary catatonic state."
The shuttle pilot began to set up transport pattern enhancers around the group. "Are there any more life signs Commander Thayer?"

Thayer scrolled through information on his console. "Negative; I suppose they must have died--" Thayer was interrupted by a severe blast that knocked the crew to the floor.
Graham tapped her COMM badge. "Captain Graham to Excalibur: Energize!" Excalibur activated the transporters and the blue hue of the transporter beam settled over the group.

Jenson sat at the captain's station, reviewing tactical logs to improve his skills.
Miller, who was at the Ops station looked slightly disturbed. "Commander Jenson, I am reading heavy neutrino emissions coming off of the Hampton.
Jenson looked up and pressed the all-call button. "All hands to battle stations!" He shouted, but it was too late. A Romulan Deridex Warbird had de-cloaked and was firing on Excalibur as well as the Hampton. "Lieutenant Miller, beam the crew off of the Hampton; Lieutenant Ogden, execute a 180° rotation and take us up to full impulse. Try to get some distance between us and that Warbird. Lieutenant Miller, open hailing frequencies."
Just as Miller said, "Hailing Frequencies open," Graham, Thayer, and Kamen walked onto the bridge.
"This is Captain Susan Graham of the USS Excalibur. Please explain this un-provoked attack upon Federation star ships!" Graham took her station, sending Jenson back to his station at tactical.

Kamen, now at her station, looked down at her console. "Captain, there is no response from the Warbird."
"Are they receiving the signal?" Thayer asked.
Kamen looked down at her console. "Sir, anything with 500,000 kilometres should be receiving the signal; this ship is no exception."
Graham bit her lip. "Commander Jenson, bring the MLSS online but please don't attack the ship unless they begin firing again."
Three layers of shields and a coat of heavy armour surrounded Excalibur, now facing the direction of Romulan space. The Romulan ship began to bear down on Excalibur, repeatedly attacking its aft section with disruptors and heavy plasma torpedoes.
"Our aft shields are failing!" Kamen said over the sounds of torpedoes hitting the ship.
Graham turned to Jenson. "Target their weapons systems and shields; fire at will!" Graham then turned to Ogden. "Perform evasive pattern Kirk- Epsilon."
Excalibur shifted to port, firing from every phaser bank as they passed the Warbird. The Warbird returned fire with plasma torpedoes that knocked out Excalibur's port shields.
"Our port shields are failing; port-armour integrity is holding at 98%." Kamen said.
Jenson looked at the readout on his console. "Lieutenant Ogden, bring us around to their starboard side; I believe I can work with something over there."
Ogden brought the ship around and stopped it, dead in the water. "Here we are, sir."
"Re-enforcing armour and hull integrity with warp reserves," Kamen said, working on her console.
Jenson worked out a few things on his console then smiled. "Lieutenant Ogden, can you please give me a 360° rotation?" Excalibur, now with all of its shields disabled, turned in a perfect circle, and fired at the Warbird, causing its shields to fail. The weapons continued firing, disabling all of the Warbird's disruptor banks and torpedo turrets.
"Their weapons are fully disabled," Jenson reported.
Graham walked up to the centre of the bridge. "Any response to our hails?"
Kamen looked down at her console. "Negative."
"That's our cue." Graham went back to her seat. "Mr. Ogden, resume our previous course at maximum warp. Lieutenant Miller, give me as much power as you have left over for warp engines and anti-cloaking sensors."
"Aye, sir." Miller said as she began to pound away on her console.
"How much time until we reach outpost 4-Alpha?" Thayer asked.
Ogden looked down at his console. "Two hours and four minutes to 4- Alpha, sir."
Excalibur headed off in the direction of the neutral zone at maximum warp. Little did they know that the Borg and the Romulans had been watching them all this time.

Admiral James Atella sat in his office aboard the uppermost level of Outpost 4-Alpha. Outpost 4-Alpha had been the launching point for the Federation freighter convoy and all outgoing peaceful missions to Romulus since the Enterprise had destroyed the Scimitar.
The Admiral had felt weary all day and had ordered the station to yellow alert. Just as he was about to contact the fleet, there was a ring at his door.
"Enter," Admiral Atella said aloud.
Fleet Captain Louise Harris, Executive Officer of the fleet at Outpost 4-Alpha, promptly walked through the door and sat down in front of Admiral Atella. She handed him a PADD containing several pieces of classified information and information on the status of the freighter convoys. "The news isn't good, sir. It appears that something destroyed both the Federation and Romulan convoys. Our early intelligence is telling us that dissident Romulan groups have been attacking Federation vessels in retaliation to the destruction of the freighter convoy and three Romulan outposts."
Atella was disturbed. "This doesn't sound good at all. What have the. official Romulans said of this?"
"Nothing," Harris replied. "We are receiving normal communications between our ships within Romulan space. all except for the ships in the convoy, including Excalibur."
"Are there any signs of aggression from Federation ships?" Atella asked, scratching his chin.
"Negative, sir."
The station's Ops Officer chimed in on the loud speaker. "Admiral Atella, we are reading seven Romulan Warbirds de-cloaking about a half light year ahead in the Neutral Zone."
Atella stood up and escorted Harris onto the command deck. The command deck was larger than most of Starfleet's standard bridges. There was an advanced control station for each department, with three dedicated officers working there at all times.
Atella stood on the raised platform in the middle of the command deck, looking curiously at the screen. "Are those D'Deridex Warbirds?"
The Ops Officer looked at his scans again. "Negative. Would you like tactical capabilities?"
Atella turned and nodded.
"Fifteen Romulan Type XX Disruptor Banks with improved firing rates and Ten type IX Plasma Torpedoes with heavy destruction capability. They have also attempted to integrate Tuvok's Unimatrix Shielding Systems on a high-output Multiple Layer system. There are Anti-tachyon detection rings that allow the ship to look almost invisible under even the heaviest anti- cloak scans covering most of the hull. Sir, these ships look as though they were built for a war against the Federation." The Ops officer continued to scroll through the data, trying to find a weakness to exploit.
Atella looked quite disturbed. "Any thoughts, Captain?" He said to Harris.
Harris looked intently at the Warbirds. "It is highly unlikely that they plan to attack us. If they had planned to attack, they would have gotten within their firing range and then de-cloaked."
"Shall I hail them, sir?" The Ops Officer asked.
"Negative," Atella said, "Romulans sometimes find it rude if you hail them first."
There was a beep on the Ops Officer's console. "Sir, we're being hailed."
"On screen," Atella said confidently.
A Romulan figure appeared on screen. She was short with the distinct ridges above the eyes and pointed ears that the Federation had become accustomed to seeing only recently. "I am Commander Em'Aura of the Romulan Imperial Ship V'Rela. I have little time on my hands, Admiral, so I shall keep this short."
Atella spoke. "Is there something we can do for you, Commander?"
"I have strict orders from the Romulan Senate to ask that all Federation ships and diplomats be removed from our space and from the Neutral zone within the next Earth week. We shall return to the guidelines set by the Treaty of Algernon and follow them strictly and without exception. We shall interpret any violation of the treaty as an act of war. The Star Empire does not wish to negotiate anything else." The figure fell silent.
"Why does your government feel that this course of action is the proper road to travel?" Atella asked calmly.
"Federation ships have attacked our vessels. Just as we are about to begin having peace talks with the Federation... just as we are about to become allies with the Federation... your ships in our space retaliate against peaceful settlements and our bases on the other side of the Neutral Zone. I think that this is reason enough, don't you, Admiral?" The figure was again silent.
Atella sighed. "You have no proof that--"
"WE DO HAVE PROOF OF YOUR UNLAWFUL ATTACKS! IF YOU WISH TO OBJECT, CONTACT MY GOVERNMENT!" The screen went back to the view of the seven Romulan Warbirds.
The Tactical Officer on the command deck seemed somewhat worried. "Sir, they have raised shields. Shall I do the same?"
Atella shook his head. "Do not raise shields."
The Ops Officer's console beeped. "Sir, I'm reading another ship coming in from heading 045." The Ops Officer scrolled through some scans on the console. "Sir, the incoming ship is USS Excalibur, Registry: NCC- 85767. Shall I hail them?"
"Go ahead." Atella said, taking a seat behind the command platform.
The Ops Officer worked briefly on his console. "Attention Federation Vessel; this is Neutral Zone Outpost R4-Alpha. If you wish to dock, please contact the Space dock on subspace channel 1800.55."
Harris turned to the Ops Officer. "Run sensor scans of the ship and state any signs of damage."
"There is extensive external as well as internal damage. The Borg destroyed the deflector assembly up to the point of the power transfer conduit. The area around the deflector destroyed in some areas and scorched in others. The port warp nacelle has extensive internal damage near the extreme rear field coils." The Ops Officer scrolled through the data. "There are several torpedo scars on the engineering hull and the forward area of the saucer section." The Ops Officer continued scrolling through the data. "Their warp power grid is completely stable and their shield and armour generators are standing by at full capacity."
Atella raised his eyebrows. "It sounds like our friend, Captain Graham, has let the ship take a good beating."

Ogden steered the ship toward the station.
"Excalibur, this is R4 Control, slow to one-quarter impulse speed and set approach vector 2-Delta for landing, pad 3." A control officer on the outpost said to Ogden.
"Computer," Ogden said, "display information for approach vector 2- Delta on Landing Pad 3."
A small chart appeared on Ogden's console, showing the projected speed and position of the ship at certain points in the approach. The console beeped and signalled him to make a turn to port.
"Excalibur, you are 550 kilometres at station bearing 086. Turn left to heading 320. Cleared 2-Delta Approach, Pad 3."
Excalibur turned to port and faced away from the station. The ship slowed suddenly and cut out its impulse engines. Using its thrusters, Excalibur made a swift turn to starboard to face a large landing pad coming off the top of the station. Excalibur moved slowly over the landing pad. Suddenly, the magnets keeping the landing struts inside Excalibur de- activated, allowing the struts to fall to their fully extended positions.
"Computer, activate a ten second countdown on my mark." Ogden adjusted a few of the settings on his console. "Three. two. one. mark!"
The computer immediately started a countdown from ten to zero. Ogden typed in a few calculations on his console and typed in something that confirmed the calculations when the countdown was at four. In the four seconds after Ogden's mad dash on the console, Excalibur lowered vertically toward the landing pad below, with its landing struts touching down just after the countdown reached zero. A force field quickly activated across the top of the landing pad and the enclosed area pressurised with a Class-M atmosphere mixture of gasses.
A long narrow patch of the landing pad located directly below the saucer section of the ship opened and allowed a docking device to extend fully to an area just behind the ventral torpedo launcher on Excalibur. The docking device quickly activated strong electromagnetic seals that bonded the device to the ship.
Two passenger crossovers quickly moved out from the wall and docked with the port and starboard sides of Excalibur's saucer section. At the bottom of the landing pad, several doors opened, allowing ground-based and anti-grav. Worker bees to leave their "homes" and begin making repairs to Excalibur.
Graham exhaled slowly as she looked about the bridge. She pressed the all-call button on the armrest to the left of her chair. "Attention all hands: You are free to exit the ship and explore the promenade areas of the outpost." Graham pressed the all-call button again so that her voice would not carry throughout the ship. "Lieutenant Miller, would you put us to external support mode?"
Miller began working on her console. There was a brief moment of the lights on the bridge going dim before the sound of a warp power-down filled the ship. "We are running on fusion and external power only, sir."
Graham sighed and stood up. "Very well, then. It is possible that everyone will have to see Admiral Atella, although quite unlikely. I request that the senior staff return to the ship after two hours' time." Graham paced slowly toward the turbo lift. "You are all free to move about the station." Everyone on the bridge stood up and went to the turbo lift opposite of the lift that Graham was riding. They obviously knew where Graham was going.
The doors closed. "Aft external access port." Graham said.
The turbo lift moved into the star drive section and move slowly toward the bottom of the ship, shifting between shafts several times to avoid colliding with oncoming turbo cars. The lift finally stopped and opened into a large storage area.
Graham walked slowly and read the names on all of the containers: "Starfleet Medical 65-A" "Starfleet Medical 65-B" "Consumables Supply 15- D" "Engineering 98-A". Graham reached the edge of the storage area and saw before her a large door. "Computer, please open aft storage bay access door." In a swift movement, the door opened and a ramp deployed so that Graham could walk onto the landing platform.
Graham walked slowly down the platform looking to the left of her, the right of her, up, and down. To the left, she saw several worker bees hauling away a piece of debris that looked like it came from the area around the deflector setting. To the right, Graham saw nothing but the landing platform and a few worker bees that were not in operation. Above her, Graham saw the upper decks of the star drive section and a charred area beneath the aft shuttle bay. Below her was the middle of a large number 3 covered by the ramp she was walking on.
Graham began to walk around the outside of her ship, inspecting the outer hull. When she reached the large hull breach caused by the impact of the exiled deflector, Graham stopped. She was slightly angry that Ogden had made the foolish mistake of turning the ship to starboard. However, as she began to contemplate the possibility of the Borg gaining the schematics of an entire deflector dish and emitter, Graham became happy and was proud of her helm officer, even if he did not do this on purpose.
Graham pressed on and saw the start of the damage caused by the Borg torpedoes. Borg weapons had scorched or exposed the entire forward quarter of the star drive section. As Graham rounded the corner to inspect the front of her ship, she saw that the damage was far more than superficial. An irregular cavity was what was waiting for Graham at the very front of the star drive section. Replacing the entire forward quarter of the star drive section seemed to be the only option.
Graham's COMM Badge rang out. "Admiral Atella to Captain Graham: Standby for transport."
Graham stood in an upright position as the blue hue of the transporter beam settled over her and moved her directly into the station.
Atella greeted her in the small transport room. "Hello, Captain."
Graham smiled and vacated the tri-pad transport deck. "Admiral, it is good to see you. We have many matters that we must talk about."
"Understood; but let's talk about it on the promenade. I want you to see what Starfleet has done to improve the designs of past outposts." Atella escorted Graham out of the room and to the promenade, which was at the end of the corridor.
Two large golden doors opened into a large area laden with shops and restaurants from several familiar cultures for all to enjoy. The floors appeared to be made of platinum and gave a diffuse reflection of the people and objects above. The ceiling was two decks above and fabric took the place of the steel ceiling in some areas in order to absorb the massive amounts of sound generated by the people below. Civilians from several alien species were scurrying about, along with Starfleet officers from the other vessels docked at the station.
Graham turned to Atella. "This is very nice. Perhaps we should sit down over there." Graham pointed toward a small bar, operated by a group of human civilians.
"This is the only bar that I can drink at. The rest of them are operated by Klingons. a little too strong for my tastes." Atella smiled and escorted Graham to the small bar and sat down at a table.
A server came to the table. "What can I get for you two?"
Graham thought for a moment. "I would like gin and Tonic with a squeeze of lime, please."
"I would like some Romulan Ale," Atella said confidently.
The server smiled. "I'll have those out for you in a minute." The server went back to the bar and put in the order to the bar tender.
"Captain, explain to me how your ship received such extensive damage. I am assuming that it was Renegade Romulan forces." Atella said.
Graham shook her head and sighed. "It was the Borg, sir. They somehow re-grouped and they are in Romulan space."
Atella blinked and glared at Graham. "So you're telling me that the Borg are responsible for the attacks on all of those ships?"
Graham nodded.
Atella looked extremely disturbed and tapped his COMM badge. "Atella to Command: Red Alert."
The Klaxon blared on the promenade as civilians began to evacuate and the shop owners and restaurant managers began to flee their own settlements. The walls flipped over, deploying several Compression Phaser Rifles. Starfleet security officers took the rifles and aided the civilians in evacuation. Force fields went up across the large windows that looked out into space.
Atella stood up, took Graham's hand, and escorted her out of the room. As they walked down the corridor, several security officers joined them. Atella tapped his COMM badge again. "Admiral Atella to Command, please divert all work bees working on non-essential repair orders to the repair of Excalibur. I want all repairs completed within the next week. Captain Harris, send a message to Romulan Command. Warn them of incoming Borg vessels and offer them assistance." Atella stepped into the turbo lift, accompanied by armed security staff and Graham.
"How long do you think it will take to repair my vessel?" Graham asked.
"We will be able to repair the internal components and the deflector dish within the next 36 Hours, but any other hull breaches or scars will be left out of the repair manifest. All resources are being diverted to ship- threatening repairs only," Atella replied.
There was silence in the crowded turbo lift. Atella looked as if he was debating something mentally. Graham turned toward the wall display and looked at a schematic of the station. She attempted to count the number of decks on the schematic in order to pass the time. By the time she got to 15, the turbo lift had already reached it destination: the Command Centre. Graham and Atella stepped out of the turbo lift along with three security officers.
Harris greeted Graham with a quick smile. "We've just received an estimate from the repair teams. It should take the entire team a day and a half to fully repair and upgrade your ship." Harris walked toward the turbo lift as Graham moved further into the command centre. "It should take two-and-a-half days to complete the repairs on all of the ships, sir." Harris was now talking to Atella.
The command centre, as well as the rest of the outpost, was completely alien to Graham. The command centre seemed to be the most structured part of the ship. In the very central area was where the station's senior officers handled diplomatic, or at worst, tactical wartime situations. There was a corridor shooting off the left of the central area. Graham peeked down the corridor and took a brief glance at its contents. Nothing new was waiting for her. Starfleet had obviously kept the design for the department planning and management areas the same. Inside of the respective "offices" were the conference areas and supply areas for many of the shipboard operations. At the end of this corridor, "Tactical and Diplomatic Planning" appeared on a decal at the top of the door, and then below it was a small decal that read "(Conference 1)."
Graham smiled and walked toward the corridor shooting off the right side of the central area. On her left she saw nothing but a door labelled "Security and Security Conference." However, on Graham's right side she saw a magnificent tilted wall, made entirely of glass. A small door that obviously onto a lift, which would take the passenger to the first floor. On the first floor of this room were several different stations; several of the rear stations were assigned to security and docking, with large view screens on the consoles. The front stations were all devoted to a separate weapons element. At the very front, Graham could clearly make out the words "Burst Fire Transphasic Torpedo; Tube 1 Alpha."
At seeing the word "Transphasic" Graham grew confused. She had only heard of such a thing once before, while reading the un-classified reports from Admiral Janeway. A handful of the Voyager crew and several key Admirals in Starfleet were the only people who knew the specifics of these somewhat mysterious devices. A schematic of the torpedo appeared on the main situation screen near the roof of this chamber standing before her then disappeared. Graham continued walking, still pondering the Transphasic torpedo and what seemed to be its mystical properties. When she was near the end of the corridor, there was a loud overhead chime.
"Security access denied. Please take three steps back or the intruder alarm shall sound," the computer said aloud, as a force field went up at the end of the corridor.
Graham turned all the way around and walked back toward the central chamber. All of the sights and sounds, no matter how dull or dramatic they had been, had bedazzled Graham.
"Any contact from the Romulans?" Harris said, sounding very impatient.
The young Ops officer looked at his console. "Negative."

* * *

Commanding Officer's Log, Stardate 54678.5:

It has been thirty-six hours since the station has gone to high alert and the Romulans have still not responded to our long-range communications attempts. We are waiting eagerly for their return contact; and as odd as it sounds most of the people in the Command Centre want to hear from the Romulans.
If the Borg have assimilated the Romulans, it would mean almost certain defeat for the Federation and a quick end to most of the other species in the Alpha Quadrant, including the Klingons. As of now, we can only hope and continue our attempts at communication.

Everyone in the Control Centre yawned, almost simultaneously. The young Ops officer kept smacking his face in order to keep him awake when his console beeped unexpectedly, sending him to the floor in fright. The Ops officer gathered himself up and looked around, his face a scarlet red.
"Sir, I am receiving a message from the Romulans. It is very short," the Ops officer said.
Harris smiled. "Put it through."
The Ops officer scrolled on his console. "It is text-only and it says, 'The Unified Star Empire has stopped the Borg threat from intensifying. We have re-opened the investigation into the destruction of the freighters.'" He frowned slightly and scrolled through the data. "They didn't send anything about assimilated ships or a crewmember. the only tactical data is that the Borg cube was destroyed after a record 87430 Disruptor blasts and 3880 Plasma Torpedoes from 25 ships. Three of the ships were lost, their crews included." He continued scrolling through data. "The rest of it is. nothing. It is just fragmented data from another subspace transmission."
Graham turned to him. "How could the data have been fragmented?"
"It happens when there is an overload of data in a subspace relay or the signal just isn't strong enough. It is likely that the Fragmented data is the same transmission, just from an earlier time," the Ops officer replied, dismissingly.
"But the Romulans have just recently upgraded all of their ships and subspace relays. so it seems highly unlikely that the signal would just. degrade," Graham said, looking very concerned.
The Ops officer shot her a look. "I could try to collect the data in this message. I believe the computer could manage to put it into at least a half-readable file." He pressed a button on his console. "I will also re- trace this message's path through their subspace relays. the Romulans should mistake it for irritating subspace radiation."
After a few minutes of silence, Atella sighed. "Captain Graham, you and your crew are hereby ordered for five days of shore leave. You may do whatever you please as long as you stay aboard the station." He pressed a button, and a small "island" console came out of the floor. Atella typed in a security code and the top of the console flipped over and off the console. Atella promptly pulled out four PADDs of information, which he handed to Graham. "This is the information on all of the refits that will be taking place in the next week to most, if not all, vessels." Atella granted Graham permission to go to her quarters. Graham stepped into the turbo lift on the right side of the command centre, as the "island" console went back into the floor. A security officer escorted her, holding a large weapon that Graham had not seen before. she felt very uncomfortable.
"What is that?" She asked.
The officer looked at his weapon. "It's a Photon Burst emitter. The ammunition is much like a photon torpedo, only much smaller."
Graham examined the weapon more closely. "Is it a micro-torpedo emitter?"
"No," the officer said shaking his head. "Micro-torpedoes are larger than the ammunition used, not to mention that they use more energy than this thing has in it."
Graham nodded in an I-am-one-very-impressed-captain sort-of way. The turbo lift stopped, and the security officer led Graham around two corners to a large bulkhead with a door in the absolute centre of it.
"Thank you," Graham said as she entered the Room.
The security officer stood outside, standing guard.
Graham wanted to go to sleep, but was too eager to review the refit plans and decided to skip the quick nap that was on her mind. She started with the first PADD, and put it into a small slot on her desk that displayed it on the console in front of her.
It read:

Starfleet Corps of Engineering Suggested Refit Configuration for Sovereign and Sovereign II Class Vessels

Part I
Engines

1. Complete shutdown of ALL propulsion systems and shutdown of power emanating from said propulsion systems (i.e. Warp Core and Fusion Generators) and transfer of power responsibilities to maintenance facility.

2. 100% Flush of all matter and anti-matter from propulsion systems (flush = complete removal and replacement with neutraliser material).

3. Level 1 diagnostic to be completed on all propulsion systems.

4. Re-crystallisation of dilithium crystal(s) in articulation frame(s).

5. Full overhaul of warp field coils and plasma injectors

6. Complete cleaning of warp plasma injectors with matter neutraliser material

7. Repeat Level 1 diagnostic

8. 100% Flush of all neutraliser material from propulsion systems (flush = vacuum removal of ALL neutraliser material with replacement of empty space)

9. Injection of enhanced matter and anti-matter into respective ports

10. Complete re-ignition of all propulsion systems after safety inspections are completed and passed (re-ignition to be at the discretion of the Chief Engineer and by approval of the Captain and Chief Dock Repair Officer)

11. Full in-flight calibration of all propulsion systems by entire crew OR Starfleet-Certified test team

Part II
Weapons

Note: Project Ro-Epsilon 22 has been completed and deemed a success; however, the Corps of Engineers does not find the amount of power drained during pulse phaser operations feasible for Sovereign Class vessels to endure during a large tactical operation. As a result, Starfleet will remove the hull-mounted pulse phasers from all vessels participating in the project, even if the power usage does not interfere with the new weapons configurations.

1. Removal of all hull-mounted pulse phaser turrets

2. The placement of two new Type X Phaser (Double-Fortified Firing Rates) Strips upon the hull of Sovereign and Sovereign II class vessels. (Areas different for specific vessels)

2. Placement of Transphasic torpedo tubes in the following places: two (2) tubes under main deflector dish, one port and one starboard; Transphasic torpedo access in saucer ventral quantum/photon burst fire tube; Transphasic torpedo access in aft dorsal engineering hull quantum/photon burst fire tube; one (1) tube above ventral aft cargo bay access point

3. Tactical and helm upgrades to support new tactical systems and upgraded sensors (Specifically the addition of computer analyses of enemy tactical manoeuvres and output of suggested firing and helm manoeuvres)

4. Full in-simulator training of flight crew to introduce them to new tactical systems

5. Full in-flight calibration of weapons at test field RNZ-55 by either entire crew OR Starfleet-Certified test crew

Part III
Shield and Armour-Hull System Upgrades

1. Removal of all external shield generators

2. Installation of twelve intra-hull nanoprobe generators

3. Installation of nanoprobe release tubes in each hull segment

4. Addition of one (1) 10cm layer of ablative armour

5. Addition of one (1) 10cm layer of tritanium (for Projectile Nanoprobe Enhancements [defensive armour])

6. Installation of eight (8) tri-shield generators to accommodate integration of MLSS (Multiple Layered Shielding System)

This concludes all major upgrades that Starfleet will complete on all Sovereign and Sovereign II class vessels by the end of next week

Note: Due to several console upgrades and unlisted department refits, the entire crew will complete proficiency tests on the holodec.

Graham pondered the last part of the information.".in the holodec training lessons." Graham did not think that Starfleet would waste time by training all personnel on-board ALL Sovereign and Sovereign II class vessels; she was obviously wrong. The sound of the all-call COMM interrupted her train of thought.
"All hands: stand down; yellow alert," Harris' voice rang out through the station crystal as glass.
Graham looked down at the PADD again. There was still space below the information about holodec training.she read it slowly. "You may see your upgraded department by running program Sovereign Delta on the holodec." Graham bolted up from her seat and ran into the corridor.
Before the security officer guarding her door could react, Graham had reached the turbo lift. The doors closed just as the security officer entered.
"Holodecs," Graham said. The turbo lift began moving and Graham gave a heavy sigh. "I don't need a security escort, you know?"
The security officer let out a grunt. "I know.but it is at Admiral Atella's personal request."
Graham let out another heavy sigh as the turbo lift doors opened onto a long, wide corridor. There seemed to be several schoolchildren gathered near the end of the corridor. A door opened nearby, and all of the children entered.
"Computer, please locate the nearest free holodec," Graham said aloud.
The computer let out a beep. "Proceed forward and make a left at the end of the corridor. Proceed to holodec 7, the first set of doors on your right-hand side."
Graham followed the computer's directions and found her inside a large room with blue grid marks all around the room. In the very centre, there was a single console for the operator. Criss-crosses of metal wire and blue grid lines covered the wall behind the console, on which the entrance was located.
"Computer, load program Sovereign Delta," Graham said aloud, still keeping close to the entrance.
The computer let out its familiar beeping sound. "Program loaded; you may begin."
Suddenly the holodec came alive and transformed into the bridge of the USS Excalibur.only something was different: The Bridge seemed to gleam with its silver plating, which took the place of the dull brown and grey fabric padding on the current Excalibur. Elongated was the tactical console on its forward side. Another part of the console, a new addition to the right side, seemed deactivated at that time. The engineering and transporter stations extended so that there were two consoles jutting out of the bulkhead, the console closest to the Engineering station bearing a 3 dimensional display of the ship.
Graham walked to the command area at the centre of the bridge. Nothing changed in this area except for the addition of keypads on the armrests of the command officer's chair.
Graham moved to the ops station, which remained unchanged. She looked to her right and realised that the forward area of the helm console was also elongated. The new area of the console bore a blank screen that had flashing green and white writing just above it.
"Master Navigational Display," Graham read aloud. ".Well that doesn't help."
Graham moved back to the command area and took her seat. She looked up at the ceiling and realised that the centre area of the roof was gone, with a circular window in its place. Above the window was a worker bee, making minor alterations to the exterior hull of the bridge. Graham wanted to see what would happen if she put the ship into a different state of alert.
"Computer, go to Condition Yellow," she said aloud.
Several wall panels changed their primary colours to yellow and some even seemed to disappear. A console came up from the floor in front of her. The console had several 3D displays of Excalibur in its centre, each with a different angle (dorsal, ventral, port, starboard, fore and aft). There was the option to access any department information, with shields, weapons, and engines status displayed automatically. Just for kicks, Graham touched the 3D dorsal view of the ship. The other 3D displays disappeared as the dorsal view took its place. There were four coloured bars around the ship, the innermost two of which were a dull yellow and the outermost two of which were a bright lime green. There was a button in the lower left corner that read "Return" which Graham pressed after surveying the console, immediately returning her to the master 3D display.
Graham wondered what would happen in an even higher alert state. "Computer, go to Red Alert." She said as the familiar klaxon sounded. The consoles that deactivated for yellow alert came back online with red for their primary colour and the once-yellow wall consoles and panels were now either flashing or sustaining red as their primary colour.
Graham heard movement behind her. She turned and watched as a large version of her master systems display descended from the ceiling. There was large 23rd Century-Style writing at the top of the display reading "Red Alert" with several flashing red bars in a fan-out pattern around it. Graham turned to her console and saw the same thing.
"Computer, please simulate a deuterium leak on deck seven," Graham said. The klaxon sounded again, the dorsal, aft, and port 3D displays on both her console and the master systems display began to flash and enlarge the damaged area on deck seven. The words "Deuterium Breach" flashed in red on several areas of the screens.
"Computer, contain simulated deuterium breach," Graham said aloud.
The text on the screens changed from "Deuterium Breach" to a green "Breach Contained" before the parts of the 3D displays returned to their normal positions. Graham looked VERY impressed as she walked to the turbo lift. Before she stepped on-board she stopped.
"Computer, please transport me to engineering," Graham said. Instead of the familiar blue hue of the transporter beam surrounding her, the holodec around Graham reset itself to the not so familiar setting of Engineering.
Engineering had become a large, almost open-air space. The room was hexagonal to accommodate a pentagonal casing for the matter-antimatter reaction chambers (which seemed a bit higher than usual), the warp core itself, three 3-sided engineers' consoles on two sides of the warp core, a large table display (similar to the table display found in the corridor leading to engineering on Galaxy-Class ships), and yet another master systems display.
Engineering appeared to be at condition green, although the bridge simulation was at Red Alert. Graham walked around the warp core, feeling its pulse as if it would never stop. As she finished the loop around the core, Graham realised that engineering probably looked slightly different when at alert status.
"Computer, initiate Red Alert protocols," Graham said.
The klaxon sounded as the engineers consoles suddenly vanished. The lights around Graham went dim as the blue-green hue of a force field shot up around the warp core. The now-familiar silver panels on the walls opened vertically to reveal several phaser rifles, photon burst emitters, and other heavy weapons that Graham had never seen before.
Graham was again impressed by this show of advanced technology. She continued to explore the new ship for five more hours before finally tiring and going to bed.

During Graham's escapades on the holodec, other crewmembers had engaged in more "social" activities.
In the event of Yellow Alert, the orders for the promenade were to remain on high alert, look for suspicious activity and to only accept orders at their counters. Erik Jenson and Angela Miller were both sitting at the bar of the Iconian Inn. The Inn was not an Inn but a small establishment whose soul purpose was to provide exquisite entertainment (particularly several humans who played 21st Century Jazz) and exquisite food in the most desirable atmosphere (The room was dimly lit with candles at each table and a long bar with track lights above).
Erik set his glass of red wine down softly onto the table. Angela followed suit with her glass of the same beverage.
"Are you at all worried about the Borg?" Angela asked him, putting her hands onto the table.
Erik smiled. "Of course I am.but I don't really want to talk about that. I want to talk about.about.err-" he trailed off and came back in strongly, "us."
Angela's eyes widened, if not in astonishment then in pure confusion. "Us?" She said.

"I didn't know." She had trailed off.
"I really, really like you, Angela," Erik said softly.
"I like you, too," She said at a volume that was even softer than Erik's.
Angela and Erik both leaned in, almost at identical speeds, and let their lips meet in mid-air. Both sighed softly as they pulled back and got up to leave the bar.
Little did they know that Arnold Sarya and Robert Ogden had been watching them the entire time, muttering and laughing at them. Sarya set his Tequila firmly onto the counter as Ogden let out one last laugh.
"Ahhh.. I guess that's the last laugh we'll have for our lives; that is, if there is a Borg war, of course," Sarya said.
Ogden spoke up with his horribly fake Irish accent, "Don' say that now. We don' wan' another bloody BAT'LE with the Borg. Bastards if you ask me."
"Err, only the children born in captivity," Sarya said as he blasted into a fit of laughter.
Ogden, of course, followed suit. "Yeah, you'd be right there."
"I do not see what is so funny," said an unfamiliar feminine voice.
Both Ogden and Sarya, whose blood-alcohol levels were now off the scale, turned to see a female human with blonde hair in a bun and silver mechanisms around her left eye and on her right temple.
"An' who might you be?" Ogden said.
Seven of Nine walked closer to them, "I am Seven of Nine. I have come to assess the competence of all crews on their dealings with the Borg. I have also come to. tweak. your simulations."
Sarya had not been paying attention; in fact, his eyes had wandered down a little too far before Seven had noticed.
"M' god! You're a bloody Borg!" Ogden said staring at Seven's face with his drunken eyes.
"I do not remember your crew profile saying anything about being a native Irishman, Lieutenant," Seven said. She turned to Sarya, "You've let your eyes wander a bit too far. Adjust the level of your head or I will report you to the Admiral," Seven stepped in a little closer.
Sarya immediately snapped out of his fixed gaze and looked bewildered, "How dare you give me a command?"
"I have superior rank," Seven said, pointing to her two full and one un-filled officer pips.
"Oh.I see," Sarya said, looking a little bit ashamed. "What did you say your name was?"
Seven sighed. "I am Seven of Nine. I will be.testing your crew.your ENTIRE crew," Seven said raising her eyebrows in almost complete disgust.
"Interesting.how would you like a--"
Seven interrupted Sarya. "You are drunk. Go to your quarters before you cause anyone else any.trouble," Seven said snapping around toward the exit of the promenade.
Sarya and Ogden looked at each other and laughed drunkenly as Seven stepped into the corridor outside the promenade.

The next few days were filled with training for the crewmembers aboard Excalibur. The training that Seven had spoken of was more rigorous than any had thought. One scenario involved going into a Borg Cube to rescue several key members of Starfleet personnel. The only member of the crew who passed that scenario was Erik Jenson. Erik, unlike the other crewmembers, remembered the fact that if you destroy a Borg distribution node inside of a Borg Cube, the drones connected to it are immediately disabled.
Seven of Nine not only made the simulations difficult for the crew, but she made sure that they worked on the holodec for more than 10 hours at a time. Gradually, she made the sessions shorter as the crew became better and anticipating the Borg's next move. Eventually, the crew was used to the tactics of the Borg.
On about the fifth day of simulations, Seven of Nine approached Captain Graham. "Captain Graham, I would like to schedule your crew for the final test," Seven said.
"What exactly is the final test, Commander?" Graham asked inquisitively.
Seven smirked slightly. "The most difficult task yet, sir. Everyone will combine all of the skills that they learned in training."
Graham did not know how to interpret this; nor the next comment Seven made.
"Tell your crew to go to Holodec 10 for sleep tonight." Seven handed her a PADD of names. "These are the crewmembers that will be on the watch while everyone is asleep. Enjoy, captain." Seven said, turning away.
Holodec 10, Graham remembered, took up 3 decks and was the most advanced training facility in Starfleet. Graham gulped slightly at the thought of being back to her quarters on Excalibur. only still being on the station.
Graham also thought about the new technology aboard Excalibur. Sure, she was competently trained and was well versed in the operation of the new consoles, but Graham did not know how she would react in a battle situation. Little did she know that the real test was so close that Starfleet's sensors could see it, and was fully aware of what it was.

Assembler 56 Proceed to Main Gate Construction Sequence
Cube 556 Proceed to Patrol Manoeuvres

The red alert klaxon blared in Graham's ears. She realised where she was: on the training deck. But Seven of Nine had informed her that it would be as real as ever, even the assimilation tubules that the Borg ejected from their cold white hands.
Graham got up from her bed and quickly changed into her official Starfleet Uniform. She moved swiftly down the short corridor and met the turbo lift, which took her up two decks to the bridge.
"Status report," Graham demanded, stepping onto the bridge. Graham's eyes widened as they met the view screen. Two Borg Tactical cubes were spinning slowly on the viewer, getting larger by the second.
Kamen kept a tight grip on her console and made sure that the Phaser Rifle on her back didn't slip by keeping her arms pressed tightly to her body. "Two Class IV Tactical Cubes closed in on our position. All defence systems are online and at hot standby. The MLSS and Armour systems are running at full power."
"Kamen, divert warp power to inner shields and armour," Thayer said, standing up.
Kamen typed something in on her console. There was an alarm from Jenson's console just as Kamen returned to her previous stance.
"Sir," Erik said, "we're being hailed."
Graham looked highly alarmed. She pressed a button so that the Master Ship's Display behind her returned to the ceiling. "Put the transmission on screen."
The eerie image of the inside of a Borg Cube appeared on screen. The eerie voices of the Borg swept through the corridors of the ship where only one mind existed and all traces of individuality had been washed away. The voice of the hive mind hit everyone like a switchblade to the neck. "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is Futile."
"I am Captain Susan Graham of the Federation star ship Excalibur," Graham said.
The Borg spoke again, "Lower your shields and submit yourselves to us. Resistance is Futile."
Graham looked around the room. "We do not surrender ourselves freely.we DO resist. And I will remind you that every attempt you have made on the Federation has been unsuccessful."
"We are superior beings. You are inferior. We give you one last chance to submit yourselves without bloodshed," The Borg said.
Graham gave the cut signal to Jenson. The view screen immediately went blank.
Graham spoke loudly. "Evasive pattern delta---" she was cut off by a vibration that knocked her to the ground. "Lieutenant Ogden, Attack Pattern Graham-Theta!"
Excalibur quickly fired a spread of four Transphasic torpedoes at the lead cube. Instead of the torpedoes impacting, the cube locked onto them with a tractor beam and disarmed them.
Thayer bolted around and looked at Jenson. "Detonate the torpedoes!"
Another vibration sent sparks flying from a side console that shorted out a few minutes before.
Jenson pressed the detonate button several times on his console; each time there was a negative response alarm. "Torpedoes are non-responsive!"
Graham, who was now in her seat, looked at Thayer as the ship turned onto its side and fired phasers and quantum torpedoes at the cubes. "We can't let them get that technology!"
Thayer looked to Graham. "Remember our procedure for drastic manoeuvres?"
Graham nodded and pressed the all-call button on the console in front of her. "All hands abandon ship!"
The abandon ship siren sounded around the ship as civilians and non- essential officers filled shuttles and fighters to maximum capacity and launched out of the rear shuttle bays. When the shuttles had filled, people began seeking asylum in the escape boats, which began rapidly launching every 30 seconds or so.
The entire bridge crew remained, opposing Graham's orders to abandon ship. Miller even joined the crew on the bridge.
After about 15 minutes, the entire ship had been evacuated except for a select few that decided to remain with the doomed ship. The ship was moving slowly away from the cubes, who seemed to be uninterested in the ship.
"Lieutenant Ogden, take us into position. All hands standby and brace for impact. Standby all forward and aft weapons systems," Graham said confidently. "Computer, initiate warp core ejection sequence at the discretion of Lieutenant Ogden."
"Voice identification recognized. Lieutenant Ogden may press engage at his discretion," the computer said.
Excalibur led the cubes into position. Its armour was now down below 49%, and the chance that anything would remain after the crew had initiated its plan was next to null.
The weaker of the two cubes remained stationary off of the port bow. Excalibur moved in, tipping its ventral side toward the cube and releasing its warp core and anti-matter pods at the cube.
"Bring all fusion generators to full power and brace for impact!" Thayer shouted across the bridge.
The cube had been hit by the warp core and anti-matter and had immediately annihilated, sending a massive energy wave at Excalibur. The wave hit Excalibur's aft side, tearing off both warp nacelles and sending the massive ship and its insides, which were also pouring out of large hull breaches all along the hull, toward the other cube. The impact force of Excalibur and a few thousand kilograms of deuterium plasma, along with the energy wave from the other cube caused the cube to nearly disintegrate.
Graham held on tightly as searing pieces of metal screamed past her and hit someone, sending them to the ground. The front of the bridge opened up and allowed several members of the bridge crew to be sucked out of the hole that remained there. Graham opened her eyes and saw thousands of Borg drones being thrown from pieces of wreckage that lingered there. Then, as fast as it had started, it was all over. A blue force-field activated and covered the hole on the front of the bridge.
Graham blinked a few times then looked around to survey the bridge. Lieutenant Ogden and Commander Kamen were gone. As Graham struggled to her feet, she knew what it felt like to be truly adrift. As Graham walked around the bridge, she felt that the bridge was slightly tilted off of its normal axis. The gravity generators were still online, but Graham decided they would have to be shut down in order for the bridge module to survive.
Graham expected the program to end right then and there, but instead it continued on. Graham was forced to move the crew from the bridge to her ready room, and to isolate gravity and life support to that area to conserve power.
Graham sat near her overturned desk, gasping for air and hoping that help would soon arrive.

Lieutenant Ogden woke up on a bed in the sickbay at RNZ-IV. Seven of Nine was standing to the left of him, talking to someone who looked like Commander Kamen.
".was not a pleasant experience," Kamen finished hastily.
"Did your Captain not inform you that it was going to be accurate to your death?" Seven said.
Ogden looked slightly surprised at this remark. He didn't remember much of the entire training simulation. Then, when he started to think about it, he remembered everything. Even the feeling of being sucked into space with nothing to breathe, and pieces of torn hull plating slicing into his skin. At the memory of this, Ogden let out a small whimper.
There was commotion at the door as a medical team came through with the rest of the bridge crew of stretchers that seemed to simply float in the air. Graham was muttering something to the nurse controlling her stretcher. Thayer looked completely out of it, as he usually did when he was unconscious.
The station's Chief Medical Officer, Commander Ishtar, was very angry at Seven of Nine for taking the safety protocols offline, and had been making small comments about how "humans were not as efficient as drones in regenerating" and "how dangerous former Borg usually are."
The entire sickbay recovery area filled with patients over the next few hours, who the doctors, including Commander Ishtar, aided quickly and resuscitated. The patients slowly began to wake up and leave. Lieutenant Ogden continued to rest and observe the repeated cursing that Seven received from both patients and doctors for her "real" simulation.
The last person to awake was Captain Graham, who hurried to the door to get back to her quarters. By this time, all of the crew including Lieutenant Ogden had already done so. Before leaving, Graham walked back over to Seven of Nine.
"Very good simulation, Commander," she said. She turned around and began walking to the door and spat, "Although you got the sensation of death running through someone ALL wrong."
By now, Seven was used to the repeated scolding by other crewmembers, so she did not care whether Graham was pleased or not.

To the surprise of everyone on the station, especially the crewmembers of Excalibur, Starfleet ordered that Excalibur be returned to full watch duty along the Neutral Zone within three days. The command staff on-board the station informed the crew in the early morning hours by way of all-call announcement. Some, like Graham, however, received the message by way of PADD and were completely outraged.
"PATROL DUTY?" Graham slammed the PADD on Atella's desk. "What do you MEAN, PATROL DUTY?"
"It means you are to cover an area of federation space that is 20 light years long and search for any sign of Borg activity. We've already sent a scout into Romulan-" the door bell interrupted Atella as he spoke. Atella sighed. "Come in."
The Ops officer that was working on the Command Centre a week before entered the room and put a PADD on Atella's desk. "Sir, the Borg have been transmitting information through Romulan subspace transceivers, including Mission Information, Armaments, and another section that wasn't in Binary code but some odd system of. err. Borg-speak."
Atella picked up the PADD and read through the first page of the report. He stood up. "All hands to battle stations! Red Alert!" Atella walked quickly down the corridor to the Command Centre as the new sound of the buzzer-like Klaxon echoed throughout the station.
Graham walked into the Command Centre and looked at Atella. "Should we launch, sir?"
Atella gave her a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding? The entire fleet is launching with you!" He tapped something on his console that brought up the image of a new Concorde-Class Carrier onto the view screen, surrounded by Intrepid, Akira, Sabre, and Galaxy Class vessels. "See?"
Graham rushed to the turbo lift, which carried her up two decks and onto the docking platform which held Excalibur.
Graham stepped out onto the Docking Gallery, which held several seats for a waiting area and also boasted several fine Earth-style restaurants. The walls on the opposite side of the waiting area were made of transparent aluminium, so that anyone who walked off of the turbo lift Graham was riding could see the vessel currently on the landing pad. Graham was in a structure that stretched completely around the landing pad so that anyone could see the vessel in its centre from any point.
Graham looked around and saw a docking boom that led to the port docking hub on the dorsal saucer section. The docking boom attached to the outer structure at an area that was just down the corridor. Graham walked down the corridor trying to note any modifications that had taken place on Excalibur. Another buzzing klaxon sounded, so Graham hurried across the docking boom to her vessel.
The atmosphere inside Excalibur was not what she'd expected. The corridors were dark and security officers stood guard at ever junction, each carrying a different variant of a range of 10 weapons.
Graham walked to the turbo lift and rode it to the bridge. The bridge was almost exactly the same as what the crew trained on in the simulator. The only difference was that the main viewer on this bridge was much larger.
"Hello, Captain," Kamen said, working on her console. "We're almost fully loaded, sir."
The image of Kamen being sucked out of the bridge briefly echoed through Graham's head. Graham blinked a few times, attempting to clear her mind. "Excellent.inform me when we are ready for departure." Graham sat down in her seat and began to review refit and calibration reports.
Just as Graham reached the 5th and final calibration report, Angela Miller's voice came onto the bridge loudspeaker. "Miller to bridge: we are beaming the last of our crew into transporter room one."
"Excellent," Graham said, standing up, "once they're aboard proceed to Engineering for warp core start-up procedures." Graham closed the channel, sat down, and resumed reviewing the calibration report.
A few moments later, the rest of the staff walked onto the bridge and took their stations. Graham was surprised to see Miller on the bridge.
"Shouldn't you be in Engineering?" Graham asked.
Miller was working on her console, so there was a brief delay before Miller replied, "My not-so-good friends at the Starfleet Corps of Engineers came up with the brilliant idea to surrender Engineering controls to the bridge. I am transferring them back to Engineering." Miller quickly vacated the Engineering station and stepped onto the turbo lift.
Ogden was moving back and forth within his station on his swivel chair, not paying attention to the alarm sounding from his console. The other officers on the bridge stared at him and shook their heads in dismay.
Ogden finally stopped moving and pressed the "Confirm" button on his console. "Captain, the station is signalling. They're ready to sever the inter-ship connection."
"Graham to Engineering: standby for warp core start-up procedures." Graham said. "Signal the station on my mark; all hands standby." Graham looked at the 3-D display on her console. The console enlarged the engineering section, and the magnetic constriction segments of the warp core flashed green. A message appeared next to the warp core reading, "Warp Core Ready." Graham looked at the view screen. "Bring the warp core online and sever the connection with the station."
The docking device coupled to the area just behind the forward ventral torpedo launcher on the saucer section de-coupled itself and descended back into the deck of the landing pad.
The crew heard a large power-on sound as the warp core activated and gave Excalibur power. The new buzzing red alert klaxon sounded on the bridge and the rest of the ship. The bright fluorescents on the bridge dimmed and allowed several smaller lights above each station to activate. The consoles on the wall changed dramatically to a red crimson colour and all of the stations around the bridge flashed "Red Alert" before returning to their normal state.
"I feel like I'm in the 23rd century," Jenson said looking at the still flashing consoles.
Graham chuckled. "Commander Kamen, pull back the landing struts. Lieutenant Ogden, Y Mark 090, thrusters only for 300 kilometres."
Excalibur rose steadily off of the launch pad. The landing struts folded their ends and receded into the ship, where a vacuum sealed them in. Excalibur stopped rising when it was a considerable distance above the landing pad.
"Engineering, please bring the impulse reactors online," Thayer said.
Miller tapped in a command on her console. "Aye sir," she said staring at the warp core, coated in a force-field.
"As soon as the impulse reactors are online, intercept the fleet," Graham said to Ogden.
"Aye sir," Ogden said, locking the command in on his console.
Excalibur stood silently in the middle of the vacuum that is space. With a sudden jolt, Excalibur moved swiftly to intercept the 42nd Marine Fighter Division and the specially assembled Starfleet Group Iota.
"Commander Kamen, would you please give me a sensor scan of Iota?" Thayer asked.
"The 42nd Marine Fighter Division is composed of a Concorde Class Assault Carrier with countless numbers of Starfleet's most advanced fighters on-board along with 3 un-named intrepid class vessels and 2 un- named Galaxy class vessels. Starfleet Group Iota is composed of the USS Intrepid, USS Barkley, USS Vole, USS Queen Elisabeth II, and the USS William Clinton.Excelsior, Intrepid, Defiant, Nebula, and Sabre, respectively," Kamen said in a long drawn out tone.
Thayer nodded in approval. "I don't think we'll have a problem."
Graham made a sound in her stomach. "Transmit a message to Starfleet asking for further assistance."
Kamen nodded. "Aye sir."
Graham stood up. "Open a channel to the fleet."
There was a beep from Jenson's console. "Channel Open," Jenson said aloud.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the fleet, we will soon be venturing into Romulan Space. I request that everyone maintain complete radio silence while we are in the Neutral Zone and especially in Romulan territory. Only if we engage the Borg will we break radio silence. I recommend that all captains make final transports of any civilian or non-essential personnel to the station within the next five minutes. After this window, we will set a course for Romulus at Warp 9," Graham lowered her voice,".Close channel."
There was a downfall sound from Jenson's console and then dead silence.
Thayer stood up out of his seat. "Alert all ships that their sensors should be emitting a tachyon pulse in the upper bandwidths to scan for cloaked Romulan ships." Thayer sat back down.
Jenson spoke up, "What about fighters sir? Shall I order the pilots to be suited and ready?"
Graham nodded silently. She was in deep thought about what might happen in the coming battle. There would be a battle.she knew this. But she did not know what intelligence the Borg assimilated from the Romulan vessels that were in battle just a week-and-a-half before.
Graham's thought was interrupted by the sound of Kamen's voice, "All ships signal ready."
Graham thought for a moment, then issued her order, "Set a course.for Romulus. warp 9."
Ogden locked in the command.
"Warning: This area is in restricted space," the computer spat.
"Emergency override, authorization Graham-Epsilon-Epsilon-Delta," Graham said loudly.
"Voiceprint authorization accepted; course laid in," The computer replied.
Ogden turned around to face Graham. "Course laid in, sir."
"Engage," Graham said quietly.
Ogden turned around and pressed a button on his console.
Excalibur swelled with energy as it turned toward the Romulan Neutral Zone and shot quickly into warp. The other vessels in the fleet followed suit.

Vessel Identified; USS Excalibur, Registration NCC-1976-B.
"Proceed with assimilation," a strong, female voice said.
Numerous vessels are following at Warp Factor 9.
This may pose a risk to the well-being of the collective. "Since when do you object? Proceed with assimilation!" Admiral Janeway threw a mangled arm across the cold, dark room. Her assimilated face had
ejected its implants. Her hair had fallen out, and she had taken the
appearance of a Borg. but not just any Borg, the shape of an individual Borg. Admiral Janeway transformed into their leader months earlier; she
was the Borg queen.

To Be Continued.