This story takes place in an Alternate Reality. Events change from the prime universe after the Battle of Wolf 359. I used a random web converter to calculate stardates, , and used the tng converter. This story will be made up of individual separate one shots and so will not always have continuity.

Operation Exodus

Stardate: 44002.8

Date: 6th of June 2366

Time: 07:31 zulu

Location: Wolf 359 star system

Lieutenant Commander Benjamin 'Ben' Sisko looked out upon the scene of destruction beyond the thin, transparent aluminium window of the escape shuttle. His son Jake was fast asleep in his arms, having cried himself to sleep. He was old enough to know that he would never see his mother again. Ben held back his own need to express his emotions, he needed to be strong, not just for the sake of his son but for the other survivors of crammed in the small shuttle, seeing as he was the senior most surviving officer of the Saratoga.

He watched in silence as the broken hulls of the hastily assembled fleet floated by. He knew some of those ships, the Tolstoy, the Kyushu, the Bellerophon, he had gone to the academy with many of the officers aboard. His eyes were drawn to the form of the USS Melbourne, an excelsior class ship, the forward half of the saucer completely vapourized. He shuddered as his mind wandered to all those who were lost. The shuttle only had limited communications range, due to the radiation caused by the battle.

The battle! His mind thought of the Borg. Where was the cube now? Had it reached Earth? Had starfleet intercepted it? Or was all hope lost?

He sighed in relief as he spotted the familiar shape of a starship exiting warp. Chatter began to break out between the survivors as the ship was picked up on scanners. The Nebula class ship approached at thruster speeds. They were saved.

Location: Sol System, Earth Orbit

Captain Wright stared at the viewscreen, his face set in a vicious scowl. The image of the Borg ship entering orbit was a frightening sight. He scowled because his ship, a handful of mothballed vessels and a few patrol barges were all that stood between the cube and Earth.

'The fleet failed to stop this thing. How can I and these handful of ships hope to stand against it?'

"Sir, Earth Spacedock has opened fire. Admiral Forest is authorising use of lethal force sir."

Wright nodded in acknowledgement to the chipper, young ensign at tactical. He pressed a button on the arm of his chair. A Boatswain's whistle sounded.

"Attention all hands, this is the captain. We are all that stand between the Borg and Earth, the fleet has failed to stop the cube. I know we have nothing more than a skeleton crew aboard but we must succeed or all is lost. Let's give the Borg hell."

Wright looked at the members of his bridge crew, resolute in his decision.

"Ensign, open a channel"

"Aye sir. Channel open, sir."

Wright sighed before speaking, "This is Captain Wright of the Ajax, all vessels fire on the Borg ship."

Chirps of acknowledgement came through the communication channel and space between the small defense fleet and the Borg cube lit up with phaser fire and photon torpedoes streaked across space.

"Ensign fire all phasers. Lock torpedoes, dispersal pattern theta and fire."

The Nebula class vessel, USS Ajax thundered towards the cube at half impulse, phaser beams strafing the cube and torpedo volleys hammering the ship. Earth Spacedock had opened fire with phaser volleys that no starship could produce, gouging holes in the cubes surface. Hundreds of photon torpedoes streaked from the station, hammering the cube.

The cube seemed to pause, rotate and then return fire. A green beam hit one of the Ajax's escorts, an ageing Constitution class ship that was kept around for training starfleet cadets and enlisted personnel. The beam vapourised the ships forward engineering hull, the ship being destroyed a second later by its warp core breaching.

Wright gritted his teeth as his ship was rocked by the gravitational shock wave caused by the nearby core breach. He had a mere fraction of a second to shield his eyes as the portside main power conduit beneath the bridge ruptured, killing three of his bridge crew, as a green beam from the Borg cube sliced through the dorsal surface of his ships hull, narrowly missing the bridge. Wright was thrown out of his chair by the force of the blast, slamming into the tactical console to his right.

As the Ajax listed out of control, Wright saw on screen, before he passed into unconsciousness, fourteen Klingon vessels decloaking and firing on the cube, just as another starfleet ship, Miranda class, was vapourized by the borg beam weapons.

Location: Earth Orbit

The USS Enterprise, NCC 1701 D, under command of Captain William T Riker, dropped out of high warp above Earth. Captain Riker had arrived just time to see the Klingon ships decloak and begin hammering the cube with disruptor fire. The cube already appeared to have sustained heavy damage, no small thanks in part to Earth Spacedock, which was still firing high powered phaser blasts at the cube.

Will met Deanna and Data's eyes, sharing a silent communication. They knew it was too late to save the captain now.

"Wesley, take us in. Worf open fire once in range."

Twin responses of "Aye sir" were heard. The Enterprise shot across space towards the cube and joined in the battle. Their only hope was to destroy the cube before it made Earth a target.

'Vessel identified. USS Enterprise, NCC 1701 D. Engage vessel.'

Locutus of Borg observed the on going battle, the voice of the Collective echoing through his mind. The Federation was putting up quite a battle. Resistance however is futile. They will be assimilated. Resistance is Futile!

'Hull integrity at 56%. Commence shield regeneration. Remodulate weapons.'

A green energy beam sliced another Klingon vessel in half. An alarm suddenly began to blare.

'Security breach. Boarding parties detected in grids 19, 26, 33, 40 and 42. Commence assimilation protocols.'

Locutus's view shifted to show Klingon boarders engaging drones quite effectively with hand to hand combat. The Borg vessel shook as a volley of torpedoes hit critical areas.

'Warning hull integrity at 34%. Regeneration sequence uneffective. Commence asset destruction scenario 4428. Evacuate to unicomplex 04. Commence auto destruct sequence.'

Locutus beamed himself along with many of the still active drones to an escape vessel. The cube was set to destroy itself but before that happened, it was set to fire on several locations planetside and fire a last volley upon the attacking vessels.

The escape vessel, a Borg probe, shot out of the cube and entered transwarp, disappearing from sensors.

Aboard the Enterprise, Will swore as he watched the smaller Borg vessel escape. He soon turned to look at the cube and with dawning horror watched as volleys of torpedoes were fired at several locations on Earth, including Starfleet HQ and Paris. A last volley of green energy beams strafed the Klingon vessels, destroying a further three, before the cube seemed to implode, before exploding outward violently, taking four patrol barges and a Miranda class starship with it.

Will sat in the captain's chair, shock evident on his face. Even Data seemed taken aback by the events that had just unfolded. Will stood.

"I will be in my ready room," he whispered to those on the bridge.

Stardate: 44038.6

Date: 20th of June 2366

Time: 15:00 zulu

Location: Drydock, Earth Orbit, Sol System

Captain Riker sighed as he signed off on another status report, glancing at the stack of reports he had yet to read. Pausing to rub his tired eyes, he noted the time and seeing that it was far too early to retire to bed, he stood from his desk and moved to the replicator and ordered a strong, black coffee.

His promotion had been made official a week after the Borg attack and he had been given command of the Enterprise. The Enterprise herself was still holed up in drydock to undergo repairs and a refit. Will was concerned at the direction starfleet was taking, after it had been made apparent by the Borg attack, that starfleet was seriously under experienced when it came to defending the Federation, new policies were put in place to try rectify the mistakes made, rampant pacifism just wasn't cutting it out there amongst the stars.

As a result, some of the more militant Admirals were advising the adoption of more military esque doctrines and standards. Will had to concede the point that he agreed somewhat with the current proposal to militarize starfleet in light of the Borg attack. Starfleet had already rescinded all current orders and missions in progress, ordering the recall of all ships to spacedocks and starbases for refit or decommissioning. Production of new ships had been ramped up in shipyards across the Federation, older ships were being decommissioned and being replaced by the new. R&D had been upped on new technologies, especially weapons and defenses, with starship design being focused on heavily.

Will sat back with a sigh as he picked up another datapad, skimming the first few lines of the report. It was a status report on the current progress of the refit. The Enterprise, along with all other galaxy class ships across the fleet, were being given an extensive refit. New warp cores, hull armour, new shield generators and emitter grids, phaser upgrades including faster frequency modulation, increased torpedo capacity and complement, and then there were the overhauls to the warp engines themselves.

'At least Geordie is enjoying himself.'

The door to his ready room suddenly chimed.

"Come."

The doors parted to reveal Data. Data had been promoted to Commander and Will had immediately taken him as his XO. Commander Shelby had been reassigned, apparently she was given command of a research team into combating the borg and understanding their technology. In fact the entire bridge staff had received a promotion, Worf was now a Lieutenant Commander, Wesley had been promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, Geordie was now a Commander and Chief O'Brien had been given a commission, being promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, just to name a few. The entire existing Enterprise crew had been either promoted or reassigned, with a new influx of crew members being assigned to the ship, most straight from the academy. The Enterprises crew complement was now over eighteen hundred, with a single MACO company aboard. Civilians, unless part of the civilian corp, and families were no longer permitted aboard starships. Will was amused to note that Guinan was a part of the civilian corp.

"Sir, I have the personnel report you requested," Data stated handing over another padd.

Will sighed in exasperation, he hated paperwork.

"Data, what is your opinion on our new operational orders?" he asked out of the blue.

Data gave that little head tilt he did when considering something, a surprisingly human gesture.

"I believe it is prudent move sir. After what has been exposed during the battle with the Borg, starfleet is seriously under experienced when it comes to combat, especially against a foe such as the Borg."

Will nodded in thought, he smiled at Data.

"Okay Commander, dismissed."

Data nodded and promptly left. Will leaned back in his chair to read through the latest report, periodically sipping on his coffee. He knew one thing, the Borg will return and in greater numbers, especially with Picards tactical knowledge. Change was certainly needed.

Commander Sisko sat in his small office, overlooking the plans of the anti borg ship being designed, aboard Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. The experimental vessel, named the Defiant, was currently being constructed in one of the many drydocks. Ben was quite proud that he was playing a part in designing such a ship, a first of its type. A warship. Ben was tasked with making the vessel design work, as a ship such as the Defiant was sorely needed to defend the Federation.

Ben was driven by one single factor, one thought. Revenge against the Borg. He hated the Borg and he was hoping to get the chance to bring the fight to them. He lost his wife to the Borg and that was something he was never going to let go.

Stardate: 45267.2

Date: 20th of October 2367

Time: 07:00 hours

Location: Romulan Neutral Zone

Commander Kathryn Janeway, XO of the recently commissioned USS Tampa, a Nebula class starship, held onto the tactical console with a vice like grip as the ship rocked from weapons fire. She quickly tapped on the control screen, gritting her teeth in frustration as the ships power fluctuated due to an overload somewhere on the ship. The console beeped and chirped as it accepted her command to fire phasers.

Glancing up at the viewscreen she saw the orange beams slam into the Romulan warbird that had crossed the neutral zone. The ship had just decloaked and began firing, no hail, no warning, nothing. Tensions between the Romulan Empire and the Federation had soured in the past year, mainly due to starfleet becoming more heavily armed. Disruptor fire from a Klingon bird of prey, strafed the warbirds dorsal hull, it's shields buckling under the strain. Her captain was just about to give an order, when the whole bridge exploded.

Janeway picked herself up from the floor, looking around at the remains of the bridge. She saw the captain, Captain Tullock, a Vulcan, impaled on the remnants of the ops console. She was in command now.

"Everyone sound off."

Groans were the only response she got.

"Damage report!"

A Bajoran, Lieutenant Yanra Deva began tapping furiously at her console, she reported.

"Hull integrity at 60%. Shields are down. Hull breaches on decks four, five, seven, fourteen and twenty. Emergency force fields are in place. Primary power conduits blown out on deck one, bridge, decks two, three, eight through eighteen. Main deflector offline. Starboard impulse engine offline. Warp core offline, emergency shutdown has been engaged in engineering. Auxiliary power has been engaged. Casualty reports coming in from across the ship, ma'am. Sickbay is not responding commander….eh, captain."

Janeway sighed, slumping at the tactical station. A medical team forced their way onto the bridge and began checking those not standing. Janeway waved of a medics help, though she accepted the medical cloth to hold to her head wound.

"Threat status Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant began sensor scans, she reported after a few minutes of silence.

"The Romulans have retreated captain, one klingon ship was destroyed. The Majestic has lost a warp nacelle, she is requesting a tow back to spacedock. The Yangtze has arrived and is standing by to assist. Captain, priority one communication from starfleet command!"

Janeway nodded, "I'll take it in the conference room Lieutenant. Begin repairs, set a course for spacedock and pass on Majestics tow request to the Yangtze."

Janeway left the bridge for the conference room. She had a feeling the Romulans have declared war.

Starfleet's response to the Romulans declaration of war was swift and decisive. A detection grid was set up along the old neutral zone to detect cloaked ships. Once the first Romulan attack group had been ambushed and pushed back into Romulan space, the Romulans realized their biggest mistake. They had tickled a sleeping dragon. The Federation struck back, hard.

Four starfleet fleets had entered Romulan space, pushing the Romulans all the way back to Romulus. The Klingons, surprised by the viciousness starfleet was showing, quickly assisted their allies by cutting of Tal Shiar reinforcements.

In total the war only lasted about three months, resulting in the Treaty of Algeron being renegotiated, with the Romulans being heavily penalised. One concession was the Federation being allowed to develop cloaking technology. Another was the liberation of the Remans. The Reman, though thankful, refused aid from the Federation, surprising the Quadrant by leaving Romulan space in vessels of their own. The Federation also gained some territory, with the neutral zone being relocated. The Klingons even gained territory from the war, making them quite happy.

The Federation and the Klingons negotiated an alliance soon after, cementing their common border and leading to a happy partnership between the two powers. Apparently the only opponents on the Klingon High Council, the house of Duras, had sided with the Romulans, marking the House as traitors to the Empire. Soon, joint Federation and Klingon operations were spotted by the other powers. The Federation and Klingons began to work closely together to find ways to combat the Borg.

Of course, fate was cruel, the one thing the Federation feared happening, happened. The Borg returned.

This story will not be consistent. It will be made up of separate one shots that will work together to tell an overall story. This was just the prologue.