I've been tossing this idea around in my head for years, and it's about time I started putting my own spin on this most vicious of debates. I will not, however, show fan wank bias for either side, and will present both sides at their strongest and weakest. Flames and trolls will be ignored. Period.
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Chapter One: A New Frontier
In the cold void of space, a single vessel set about a most monumental task. The vessel itself was a cube of immense size, each side at least 3 kilometers long. Its makers appeared to have constructed the cube from the inside-out, exposing the conduits and wiring to the black void of space. It glowed an eerie green from within. This vessel belonged to the most feared race in the galaxy, a race guilty of murdering billions and assimilating even more: the Borg.
Its current goal: to construct a stable wormhole to another galaxy in order to expand the Collective's influence and assimilate new technology and races.
Within the cube, the mighty consciousness of the Borg hive mind was constantly at work, detailing and directing its motives.
Quantum singularity 100 percent complete. Scanning anomaly for signs of instability…error. Singularity is beginning to denaturate. Approximate time to total collapse, two Earth hours, 27 minutes.
Far away, in the Borg superstructure known as Unimatrix 01, the face of the Collective received this information, and in her powerful mind in which millions became one, she pondered and planned.
"Redirect all available vessels to the quantum singularity," she commanded out loud. An inefficient method of communication, but sometimes even she needed to exercise her status as unique among the Borg. "Prepare this vessel for launch. Begin preliminary activation sequence for a second queen to appropriate all my primary tasks upon my entry into the singularity."
She knew that, if she did not go, the vessels that entered the singularity would weaken, as their link to her and the rest of the Collective would be stretched quite nearly to the breaking point. It was a protocol the Borg had kept on standby since her inception, and it had proven invaluable in sustaining her even if her current body was destroyed. With a second queen on standby to inherit her consciousness, she was effectively immortal.
The chamber shuddered as the Queen's personal, diamond-shaped vessel exited the Unicomplex and entered a transwarp conduit. Within an hour, her vessel, as well as eighteen other Borg ships, all arrived at the appointed destination where the first cube was standing guard. Along with her unique diamond-shaped vessel, there were twelve standard assimilation cubes, as well as three Class-4 tactical cubes, and three long-range tactical spheres. A small scout force, by Borg standards, but truly formidable to any race that had been lucky enough to survive encounters with them with some semblance of integrity intact.
Her forces gathered, the Queen exerted her full control over the hive as she silently gave the command. Begin.
One by one, the Borg armada entered the wormhole, traveling through space and time in mere moments, until they emerged into a galaxy far, far away.
Once the armada had exited the singularity, the vessels took a moment to assess the situation.
Primary shield matrices on all vessels have been disabled. Damage minor. Beginning regeneration sequence…
The Borg Queen ignored this as she looked at a viewscreen showing the inky blackness of this uncharted region of space. "Scan this spatial grid for any signs of vessels or inhabited planets. Begin preliminary procedures for mapping out this new sector."
She waited, her patience infinite, until the Collective alerted her to a new development. She cocked her head as the viewscreen shifted to a small moon settling into orbit around an inhabited planet.
A vessel has been detected. Six hundred thousand kilometers, approaching an M-class planet at low impulse. Preliminary scans indicate a battle station of unknown armament. Crew: one point eight five million, Species 5618, Human. Shield matrices have been repaired. All systems operating at full capacity.
Staring at the spherical battle station as impassively as ever, but with an unmistakable glint of hunger in her eyes, she gave the order. "Move to intercept at low impulse and prepare for assimilation. Once we have secured the station, we will move on to the planet."
XXXXXX
Princess Leia Organa shuddered as she felt the presence of Darth Vader behind her as she was led over to where that loathsome snake, Tarkin, was waiting for her with that insufferably smug look on his face. "Princess," he said conversationally, "how wonderful of you to join us."
"I told you," she said again for what had probably been the tenth time in the last hour, "I don't know where it is."
Tarkin's smirk never wavered. "Yes…you have proven yourself to be quite resilient to the truth serums we've administered. I fear it's time for a more…aggressive approach."
He cast his aging face towards the window, drawing Leia's attention as well. She recognized the planet staring back at her immediately, and quickly she put two and two together, her face going white as a sheet. "Since you've chosen to resist us, we have decided to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan," Tarkin continued, a malicious glint in his eyes.
"No!" Leia gasped, horrified.
Tarkin's smirk widened even further; he was enjoying this. "Then tell us the location of the Rebel base, and I may see fit to spare Alderaan its fate."
Leia bit her lip, conflicted between her loyalty to her home and to the Rebellion. Finally, in a resigned, stricken voice, she whispered, "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine."
"See how easy that was?" Tarkin sneered. He then turned to his comm officer. "Commence with the operation. You may fire when ready."
Horror and incomprehensible rage burned in Leia's eyes as she cried, "No! You said…!"
Tarkin turned back towards her, and he was still. Smirking. "You're far too trusting, Princess," was his coy, cruel reply.
Leia paled in dread. This monster had been planning to destroy Alderaan all along. As far as she was concerned, Wilhuff Tarkin had just proved himself to be viler even than Vader, right up there with the wrinkled old Emperor himself.
However, as this short exchange played out, Vader suddenly stiffened as she felt a sharp disturbance in the Force. It felt as though some empty, chilling void had opened up and was reaching at this very moment towards the Death Star. This went unnoticed, for a second after the Sith Lord sensed it, the comm officer abruptly spoke up. "Sir! Long-range sensors have just picked up a fleet of unknown vessels converging on our immediate position."
Tarkin's brow furrowed, his smirk finally fading thanks to the unexpected interruption. "Friends of yours perhaps, Princess?" he asked rhetorically.
Leia did not answer, her expression one of utter confusion. The Rebellion had indicated to her that it was not ready to launch an assault on the Death Star just yet, so they couldn't have massed a strong enough fleet to challenge the station so quickly. Not to mention that it was too soon for them to have gotten the plans she had sent off in that R2 unit.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the deep, mechanical baritone of Vader. "Judging by the Princess's expression, I do not believe these are rebel ships. What direction are they approaching us from?"
"Northwestern hemisphere, s-sir," the comm officer explained nervously. "They'll be in visual range in less than two minutes."
"Bring us around," Tarkin ordered. "Ensure that the superlaser is facing their fleet when it arrives. We will deal with Alderaan later."
"Yessir."
Vader, Tarkin, and Leia all watched as the view slowly shifted to the left, away from the pristine, beautiful Alderaan to the sight of some twenty ominous-looking ships of unknown design bearing down inexorably on the station. Soon, about twenty thousand kilometers off, the unidentified armada halted and spread out in a half-circle surrounding the Death Star. Vader, forgetting about Leia for the moment, took a single step towards the window, his gaze fixed on the geometrically-shaped vessels. The cubes in particular were massive; apart from the soon-to-be-completed Executor, they were the largest vessels he had ever laid eyes on, easily dwarfing the average Star Destroyer many times over. Surrounding them was a constant disturbance in the Force, almost like some kind of void the nature of which he could not describe, but it filled him with a dread the likes of which he had not felt in a very long time. Suddenly a green beam lanced out of the nearest cube, washing over each of them ominously.
"What are they doing?" Tarkin demanded.
"They're scanning us with some kind of polaron beam!" the conn officer declared worriedly.
Somehow, Vader did not know how, but somehow, perhaps through the whisperings of the Force, he knew what the purpose of it was. "They're sizing us up…analyzing our offensive and defensive capabilities."
Leia's jaw was threatening to drop. Who could be bold or insane enough to directly challenge the Death Star?
Little did she know that she, and by extension everyone else, was about to find out.
XXXXXX
Tactical scans complete. Six thousand high-yield pulse laser turrets, two thousand torpedo bays. Bridge and Engineering sections identified. Scans indicate concave structure to contain a weapon of unknown yield, scans inconclusive. Concave structure is now facing Cube 6729, reading power fluctuations in the structure.
The Queen flashed a ghost of a smile as the Collective continuously fed information into her, anticipating the coming conquest with relish. "Triaxulate all shield matrices to absorb their pulse lasers. All vessels prepare to transport all available tactical drones to their Engineering section and Bridge. Open communication frequencies."
XXXXXX
Every crewman on the Death Star abruptly froze as the comm system was hijacked station-wide, a hideous cacophony of millions of whispers coalescing into a single powerful voice as the aliens enunciated their intentions loud and clear.
"WE ARE THE BORG. EXISTENCE AS YOU KNOW IT IS OVER. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOU WILL SERVICE US. YOU WILL BECOME US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."
And then the message cut out, giving the officers comm control again.
Tarkin bristled at this. "They would dare threaten us?! Bring the superlaser online! Target their nearest vessel! Perhaps a demonstration of our power might convince them to surrender."
Vader was silent as he quietly reached out with the Force, seeking to touch the aliens with his mind. Perhaps he could influence their thoughts or at least glean some information from them. But when he tried to pinpoint a single individual, he found that he couldn't; to touch the mind of one was to touch the minds of all. A collective consciousness. If that was the case, perhaps he could influence them all at once…
SECURITY BREACH. FOREIGN TELEPATHIC PRESENCE DETECTED.
And then Vader found himself pinned in place as the voice and will of millions bore down on him as one. He was but one mind, one voice, a single grain of sand standing against the entire ocean. They were surrounding him, consuming him, demanding his surrender…
JOIN US. BECOME ONE WITH THE BORG. JOIN US IN OUR SEARCH FOR PERFECTION. ANAKIN SKYWALKER, OTHERWISE GIVEN THE DESIGNATE DARTH VADER, YOU HAVE SERVED AN INEFFECTUAL, ARCHAIC CULTURE THAT IS DESTINED FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION. WE ARE THE NEXT STEP IN EVOLUTION. WE ARE PERFECT. WE ARE THE BORG. JOIN US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
"Resistance is…" Vader uttered, but the words halted when he realized what was happening.
No. He had sold his soul once already. He would not do it a second time. With a drawn-out growl of effort, Vader pushed himself out of the Borg hive mind, and the drone of millions of voices speaking as one blessedly faded from his skull. He did not realize he had stumbled as he recollected himself, but Leia and Tarkin certainly had.
"What's gotten into you, Vader?" Tarkin demanded. Then that smirk of his returned. "Is that fear I see?"
"Every last one of those alien vessels must be destroyed. NOW."
Tarkin returned his gaze towards the window as the superlaser activated, a bright beam of green energy lancing out of the Death Star that slammed into the nearest cube, obliterating it instantly. The sight of this made Tarkin's grin widen further. "See? Nothing can stand against the power of this battlestation."
XXXXXX
Cube 6729 destroyed, all drones eliminated. Estimated power output of weapon; four hundred million terawatts. Our shields cannot repel firepower of such magnitude.
The Queen's eyes narrowed; the telepath's invasion into the hive mind had not gone unnoticed by her. His foolish move had opened him up to her, and he had piqued her interest the same way a certain other human once had. But like that same man before, he had resisted, and pulled himself away before she could consume him from afar. Previous experiences and assimilations had allowed the Borg to adapt to foreign presences attempting to infiltrate the Collective's subspace frequencies, either through telepathy or synaptic interfaces.
Enemy weapon recharging. Estimated time until weapon is ready to fire again; eight minutes, eleven seconds.
Easily shunting aside that familiar feeling of anger, the Queen curtly ordered, "All vessels, open fire. Concentrate on the concave structure. Begin transportation of drones to Engineering and Bridge areas and prepare for assimilation. The Collective must grow."
Estimated losses before enemy vessel is secure projected to be four to five vessels, up to six hundred thousand drones. First transportation cycle complete. Encountering heavy resistance, 42 percent of initial wave eliminated. Initiating second transportation cycle. The Collective must grow.
XXXXXX
Tarkin was rather surprised that the aliens had not surrendered after the destruction of their first vessel. The remaining Borg vessels all collectively turned their attention towards the superlaser, each firing a single green torpedo-like object at the Death Star's primary weapon. Tarkin scoffed. "Those weapons can't possibly penetrate our shields."
All of the projectiles pounded against the superlaser's protective shield, but Tarkin's smirk faded when the comm officer gave the report. "Sir, the shields' effectiveness just dropped by eight percent!"
"What?" Tarkin demanded, an edge to his voice.
"W-whatever those were, they just drained the superlaser's shields by eight percent!" the officer nervously clarified.
They looked up just in time to see the Borg armada send another salvo at the superlaser, and the comm officer reported, "Shields down another fourteen percent!"
"Enough of this!" Tarkin snarled, losing his patience. "Fire all weapons, and the superlaser once it's finished recharging!"
All at once, thousands of turbolaser turrets fired a deadly rain of searing green bolts at the gathered ships, but Tarkin's brow furrowed as he watched the barrages be harmlessly absorbed by the enemy vessels' shields. "Impossible," he murmured. "What are these beings?!"
Another salvo of shield-draining missiles struck the superlaser. "Sir, superlaser's shields are down to 26 percent! Another volley and we'll lose them!"
"How soon before they're ready to fire?" Tarkin demanded.
The officer gulped. "Two minutes, seven seconds, sir."
"Dispatch all our fighters!" Tarkin ordered. "Tell them to distract the aliens as much as possible! Just give us the time we need to fire that weapon again!"
"I think it may be wiser for us to fall back," Vader intoned. "These aliens have clearly demonstrated themselves to be a threat we do not yet understand the extent of."
"I WILL NOT CONCEDE DEFEAT!" Tarkin roared, causing Leia to jump. Never had she seen the man so furious. "The Death Star is the ultimate power in the universe! And I am not going to flee before some puny aliens just because we've never encountered their technology before! You are many things, Vader, but I never took you to be a coward!"
Leia could practically feel the waves of anger radiating off of the masked Sith Lord as he pointed a single finger, threateningly, at Tarkin. "You have done nothing but test the limits of my patience ever since the Emperor put you in command of this technological terror," he growled. "You speak to me so flippantly only because of how much trust the Emperor has put in you. But I know better than anyone how fleeting his favor is. And if you allow the Death Star to be lost because of your own arrogance, you had better hope that you perish with it, because I assure you the Emperor will doggedly seek your death for your short-sighted betrayal, and I will be more than happy to carry out the execution."
"If you wish to run, then run, Vader," Tarkin coldly snarled. "I'll gladly take credit for all the glory to be had here. And then it will be you who will lose the Emperor's favor."
Suddenly the entire station shuddered noticeably, shaking them from their personal showdown as the comm officer cried, "Shields have failed! They're targeting the superlaser with all their weapons!"
"Are we ready to fire?" Tarkin demanded, turning away from Vader.
"Y-yes, but…if we do, t-the damage it's already taken could cause a feedback and destroy us too!"
While this exchange took place, they were suddenly startled by the sound of another explosion. They turned to see that three of the Borg vessels' shields had failed under the combined assault of hundreds of turbolaser blasts and were crumbling apart under the heavy barrage. Tarkin's smug grin returned. "So their shields aren't impenetrable after all. They can be overwhelmed."
However, as soon as those words left Tarkin's mouth, a shimmer of green and a strange hum drew their attention towards the center of the room in time to see six individuals appear from seemingly thin air. Leia and the comm officer gasped in horror, and even Tarkin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Vader's expression was hidden by his helmet, but he too was disturbed by what he saw.
Staring back at them, with the blank, lifeless eyes of the living dead, were six cyborgs unlike anything they had ever seen before. Their skin was mottled grey, and they were all bald. Most had one eye replaced with some kind of blinking prosthesis, and they were clad in pewter-black exosuits riddled with circuitry and wiring that directly fed into the bodies. Some had also had one arm replaced with artificial implements, with blades, hooks, and other tools designed for some unknown purpose whirring ominously as they visually scanned their surroundings. Leia was petrified by the dead look in their eyes, and, despite herself, hid behind Vader.
All the Stormtroopers and officers in the room drew their blasters and pointed them at the gathering of drones as Tarkin barked, "You there! You are under arrest, in the name of the Galactic Empire! Stand down or we'll open fire!"
Undaunted, the Borg drone directly facing Tarkin raised a cybernetic arm and began slowly walking towards him like a juggernaut. Tarkin didn't hesitate; he pulled the trigger, and the drone was thrown backward as the plasma bolt struck it squarely in the chest, killing it. This prompted the other drones to begin striding methodically towards random crew members, who all fired as well, and soon the remaining drones dropped dead with their chests smoking and sparking.
"That was remarkably easy," Tarkin mused. "Any word of any other boarders?"
The comm officer began hurriedly communicating with his fellow officers on the Bridge, and then turned towards Tarkin, his face white as a ghost. "Sir…the Bridge is under heavy attack, and we've lost all contact with Main Engineering! I'm getting reports of boarders all over the station!"
Tarkin, though he tried not to show it, was beginning to show signs of growing fear at the continuing development. "How…how is this possible?!"
"The station is lost, Tarkin," Vader pointedly said once more. "If you wish to stay and go down in flames with it, fine. But I will not share your fate, but spread word of it as a cautionary tale."
Leia started as she felt Vader firmly push her by the shoulders towards the doors. "The Princess stays, Vader," Tarkin abruptly announced, glaring daggers at the man who he hated more than anyone for how he constantly stood in his way to becoming the Emperor's right hand. "You may run, but I'll be the one to bring her to the Emperor after I've dealt with these upstart aliens."
Leia jumped as Vader's lightsaber activated with a hiss. "Give me a reason, Tarkin. Give me the reason I need to finally end your life."
At that moment, Tarkin, for once, decided that he had pushed Vader enough and said through gritted teeth, "Fine, take her. But be sure His Majesty will hear of this."
"He certainly will. From me. You, on the other hand, I don't expect to still be alive by the end of today, so I've no need to worry. You and your toy will go down in flames together."
Leia meekly followed Vader out the door, and blinked in surprise as she could have sworn he muttered, "And good riddance to both."
XXXXXX
Even as hundreds of Imperial fighters swarmed all around the gigantic Borg vessels, taking potshots at their tritanium hulls with their laser cannons and bombs to little effect, the armada simply ignored them as it continued sending salvo after salvo of torpedoes and cutting beams at the superlaser platform. Observing on a viewscreen, the Queen smirked as the Collective informed her of their latest development, even as she watched it all through the eyes of each of her drones. A shiver of pleasure crawled up her metallic spine as she felt each new addition added to her Collective, enhancing them, perfecting them. The fall of a drone hardly fazed her, and there were more, always more to come when one fell. And they were learning to adapt. Like the ships themselves, the drones' personal shields had been modified to absorb the enemy's weapons, to moderate effect. The shielding ultimately failed if put under heavy assault by several volleys at once, but with the drones swarming as they were, doing so only killed a handful while allowing the legion behind them to surge forward with arms outstretched, inviting them all to join the hive.
Enemy vessel's primary weapon disabled. 35 percent of station secured, approximately 200 thousand personnel assimilated. Estimated time until entire station is fully assimilated; eight Earth hours, two minutes.
The Queen's smile widened. "Our presence is no longer required here. Cube 43091 will commence with the assimilation of the nearby planet. Upon full assimilation of the station's archives, we will determine priority of next assimilation targets. Designate our newest vessel as…Unimatrix 01-B."
XXXXXX
It was not long before Vader and his unwilling charge came upon another group of the creatures. Three of them were currently investigating a large console, scanning it with their devices. A pair of Stormtroopers appeared from down the corridor, saw them, and immediately opened fire. To Vader's surprise, the blaster bolts were harmlessly absorbed by some sort of energy shielding that surrounded the drones. Two of the drones broke away from their task and lumbered after the attacking Stormtroopers while the third stayed behind, raising its fist towards the console. Vader and Leia stopped, the Sith Lord saying nothing as he observed both scenes playing out. The two drones ignored the blaster bolts impacting their shields as they advanced on the hapless Stormtroopers, arms outstretched. The idiot soldiers didn't back up, but kept firing even though it was useless, and soon the Borg were upon them. They tried hitting the drones with the butts of their guns, but the Borg were unfazed and quickly overpowered the Stormtroopers. Vader then watched as the two drones, as well as the third one that had remained at the console, injected the Stormtroopers and the console with a pair of tubules that emerged from their knuckles. The Stormtroopers jerked violently, and then went still, while the console's layout abruptly changed from Imperial data to a strange, spaghetti-like pattern.
Leia was horrified at the fate of the brave but foolish Imperial soldiers. "Why aren't you helping them?!" she yelled angrily.
"I am gathering information," Vader replied without empathy. "Besides, what does it matter to you? As a member of the Rebel Alliance, does not the death of a handful of Imperial soldiers satisfy you?"
Leia narrowed her eyes. "I am not the monster you are, Vader. I don't enjoy the state our galaxy is in. We are fighting the Empire for the same reasons the Separatists fought the Republic; our ruling government is hopelessly corrupt, and we want change!"
"Billions have died for the sake of that so-called 'change'," Vader replied smoothly. "In both this war and the Clone Wars. Has any of it been worth it?"
Leia said nothing in reply, and turned her head to silently mourn those two soldiers who, despite being the enemy, demonstrated courage the likes of which she had also seen in the Rebellion's finest members…
And then her eyes widened as she saw them get back up. "What…? They're not dead?"
Vader also appeared surprised by this as the two Stormtroopers unsteadily got back to their feet, the two drones that had assaulted them striding off to perform other, unknown tasks. However, Leia and Vader both noticed how stiff they were moving, more like automatons than men. Then they lifted their helmets…
…and Leia screamed.
They too had dead, soulless gazes, with mechanical devices even now ripping out of their faces and cheeks, the skin around them turning mottled grey as well. Even Vader could not hold back the undercurrent of horror in his voice. "So that's how they do it…"
Vader decided right then and there it was time to act. With lightsaber in hand, he first cut down the drone still assimilating the console, and then quickly bisected the two freshly-assimilated Stormtroopers. "Come, Princess," Vader commanded, his weapon still active. "If you wish to live, you will follow me."
Leia knew it better than to argue, and reluctantly followed the Sith Lord towards the hangar bay. She gasped in surprise as they rounded a corner to encounter three assimilated Stormtroopers coming towards them. These too Vader cut down without hesitation or remorse, and he continued on without a word. Close to the hangar bay, they encountered at least six regular drones having just dealt with an opposing group of Stormtroopers. Vader was immediately a blur of motion, the red glow of his lightsaber humming and hissing as it swung through the air, severing arms and heads and splitting bodies in half. He then made sure to swiftly execute the unconscious troopers before they could finish turning before resuming his course, with Leia following nervously behind. She silently cursed to herself; with her hands still cuffed, Vader was her only means of protection against these strange, terrifying beings. She couldn't take one of the assimilated troopers' blasters for herself, and even if she could, she doubted Vader would have let her. Despite everything that had happened, she was still his prisoner. The best she could hope for was that, with the Death Star having been waylaid by the surprise arrival of the Borg armada, her father and the people of Alderaan had time to realize the danger and flee the system.
Soon they arrived at the hangar bay, where some other, smarter Imperials had decided to run while they still could, boarding shuttles and exiting the bay. Vader led Leia over to one of the remaining shuttles, his personal one, and ushered her inside. He looked over his shoulder to see a multitude of Borg march into the hangar bay, some fully-assimilated drones, others freshly-recruited personnel, but all had the same empty, faraway look in their eyes as they advanced on the fleeing Imperials. Several troopers began tossing their standard-issue grenades as the Borg horde, hoping to slow them down even for a moment before racing towards their respective shuttles. Vader noted with relief that the explosions did indeed kill a significant number of Borg before sealing the door behind him.
Leia, unable to do anything, just sat down in a chair while Vader swept past her to the cockpit. Though his past as Anakin Skywalker was long-dead to him, he still never felt quite at home as he did at the cockpit of whatever craft he was piloting. With years of practiced precision, he brought the engines online and lifted her out of the hangar bay to join the handful of other evacuating Imperial craft.
XXXXXX
Bail Organa was worried. He had not heard anything from his daughter in several days, and the last news he had heard was that her ship had encountered an asteroid field and perished. But Bail knew better; it was more likely that her ship had run afoul of a Star Destroyer, but what he did not know was whether she was dead or alive. Had the Empire discovered she was a Rebel sympathizer? Were they intending to use her to strike at him? Were they aware of her mission to recruit General Kenobi to the war effort? Considering the many possibilities only served to heighten his anxiety further as he brooded in his private chamber in the palace.
However, his brooding was interrupted when one of his orderlies entered the room, his face pale as a sheet. "Viceroy!" the man cried.
Organa straightened in his seat as he asked, "Yes, what is it?"
"The Death Star has entered the system and is within firing range of Alderaan!"
Organa was out of his seat in an instant. "What?"
"B-but that's not all, sir!" the orderly continued. "A fleet of unknown ships then abruptly appeared out of some kind of wormhole and has…begun attacking the Death Star!"
"Attacking it?" Bail repeated in shock.
"Yes, sir!"
Bail took a moment to process this information. "Whoever they are, they've given us valuable time. There's only one reason that snake Tarkin would have brought that thing here. Order a complete evacuation of the planet. We will make for Corellia at once while the Empire is otherwise distracted by our new friends."
"Understood, sir!" the orderly saluted before heading off to spread the word.
Without further ado, Bail went to go collect his wife and join the evacuation himself, thanking whatever gods he could for the unknown ships that had placed themselves between his home and the Death Star.
Little did he know that he would soon change his tune.
XXXXXX
Leia watched with bated breath as their shuttle raced out of the bowels of the Death Star, having, despite Vader's presence, taken the other available seat in the cockpit to observe the battle they were passing by. Vader said nothing, concentrating on piloting the ship while Leia looked up to see the Borg armada systematically terminating the various turbolaser turrets spitting thousands of bolts at them while hundreds of TIE Fighters swarmed the gargantuan vessels. The Borg vessels, however, were virtually ignoring the tiny fighters, and it was easy to see why; they weren't causing any significant damage to the enemy ships, though many of them were as pockmarked as an unsheltered moon due to the sustained turbolaser volleys that had eventually overwhelmed their shields.
"They seem preoccupied," Vader mused out loud, looking up as well for a brief moment. "Let us hope our departure goes unnoticed."
Vader idly waved a gloved hand, and to Leia's surprise, her cuffs flew off her hands and clattered to the floor. "Until I deem otherwise, you will no longer need those," he said in a curt tone.
Leia said nothing, knowing that she should just accept her luck. "Where are we going?"
Before Vader could answer, however, they heard a familiar shimmering sound behind them, and Leia screamed.
A single Borg drone stared back at them, its artificial arm outstretched towards the young princess.