Daleks vs. The Borg
In the depths of space, in the furthest reaches of the Gamma Quadrant, a massive ship sped silently through the depths of the vacuum, unconcerned with the ancient debris of planets and asteroids turned to powder millions of years past. The ship was a dark cube, unconcerned with beauty and shape, from within came a sickly green glow. Inside were tens of thousands of beings. Any outsider looking in would say that its crew was a bohemian mix; humans, Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Ferengi, Andorians, Bajorans and countless other races but to those who knew this ship, there was only the Borg. The Borg were the supreme lifeforms in the galaxy. All would be one with the Borg.
A warning sounded among the security drones as the cube scanned for planets worthy of assimilation. "Unidentified object detected. Low power readings. Vessel: unknown. Lifesigns detected. Species: unknown. Advanced weaponry, defenses, propulsion, and temporal displacement technology detected." The drone awaited a response from central plexus. It came without delay. "Intercept and assimilate." The drone immediately saw that that would not be necessary. It was on a collision course, moving to quickly to acquire a transporter lock. The moment the object struck the cube, the central plexus ordered repair drones and security drones to the damaged section.
"Warning: power readings from unknown object increasing. It is becoming active."
"Irrelevant. All will become one with the Borg. Resistance is futile."
The security drone approached, and examined the object. With the collective observations of the other drones, she fully determined that the object was simplistic in design, made of an unknown mineral, a mineral that would soon become theirs. It was a simple, tapered pod with a round dome, and wide, flat bottom. Black half-spheres covered the lower half of the pod. A data collection device and an inoperable weapon of some kind protruded from its chest plate and a single optical sensor protruded from the dome. Two lights sat atop the dome, their purpose unknown. Instantly, the optical sensor glowed blue, and as it spoke, the lights atop the dome flashed in time with it's speech.
"UNKNOWN CYBERNETIC LIFEFORMS. IDENTIFY."
The security drones closest to the object approached it in order that it may be assimilated. Gliding on a suspensor, the object moved back, in the direction of the hole it had made upon impact.
"OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!"
It pointed its weapon uselessly, unable to shoot. A security drone captured the object by its data collector and injected nanoprobes into the into the chest plate. The armor was tough, but not impenetrable, but then, unexpectedly, the drone began to malfunction and burst into flames. The object glowed red. The security drone, 4 of 6 observed dispassionately as she realized the weapon the creature had used did nothing more than generate intense heat. It could not be adapted to.
"YOUR NANOMACHINES HAVE BEEN EXTERMINATED. SUBMIT OR BE EXTERMINATED."
4 of 6 spoke. "The Borg do not submit. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
"INCORRECT. THE DALEKS ARE SUPREME! SUPREME!"
The Dalek, still generating intense heat, moved past the drones, all of whom stepped out its way since engaging with the superheated creature would be pointless. They fired their weapons at it, to no avail. The Dalek plunged its data collector into a regeneration alcove and the entire cube suffered a power fluctuation. 4 of 6 watched as the Dalek self-repaired at a phenomenal speed. The Borg must have this technology. Then, for a moment, her thoughts were her own. What was happening? Why was the Collective becoming so weak? Then it had returned, but now it was a distant hum. The Collective wasn't as loud as before, not as pervasive. 4 of 6 could almost...remember things. Then, the Collective shouted into her mind. The Dalek had the power to destroy them and now it knew everything about them! This new awareness could wait.
"YOU ARE ENEMIES OF THE DALEKS! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
One by one, the drones fell as they advanced on the now cooled Dalek, doing everything they could stop its advance, but its defenses were beyond their ability to understand. Their weapons would not adapt. The Collective did a detailed scan of the Dalek and suddenly understood. The shields were designed to absorb matter and reflect energy. Particle and energy weapons were useless, and the Borg couldn't get close enough to use cutting blades or to attempt another assimilation. 4 of 6 acted contrary to the Collective moved out of the Dalek's path of attack. Reaching out to the rest of the Collective, she realized that others were dangerously close to awakening. The Dalek had caused a severe disruption to the Collective.
The Dalek had now passed her and was continuing its advance on her fellow drones. Finally, they adapted to the Dalek's weapon. It conducted its own scan, examining the Borg drones, and resumed firing, its weapon as deadly as ever. If this didn't stop, the cube would be unable to continue. The Dalek shield could stop light and particle based energy and deflect high speed projectiles, but could it stop concussive force? 4 of 6 fired on an energy conduit the Dalek was near. The explosion ripped a piece of its armor clear, large enough for a drone to get its hand inside. As the Dalek recovered from the blast, 4 of 6 reached it just in time. The Dalek had clearly determined that she had fired the weapon, but it wasn't fast enough to retaliate. She had already injected the lifeform with her nano-probes.
An invisible force flung 4 of 6 back and the Dalek screamed, "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" firing that word even more rapidly than it had fired its weapon. Only this time, it did not fire. The Dalek fell silent and its power levels diminished. As the Dalek was taken away for the assimilation process to be complete, the Collective reasserted itself.
"4 of 6: Primary Controller of Trimatrix 5128, you require reinsertion into the Collective." Two drones approached her and marched her along behind the Dalek. As the Collective grew stronger in her mind, so did something else; the Dalek's voice. As the Collective issued a designation to the Dalek species, something else began to assert itself in the Collective, and suddenly, 4 of 6 was afraid of being reinserted. New possibilities were beginning to open themselves up and she didn't want to give them up, but it ultimately became unnecessary.
The drones stopped and 4 of 6 could not hear them. She could only hear the Dalek. The Collective was at war with itself as new concepts began to grow. A sense of self-loathing that could only have come from the Collective pervaded her and her new awareness warned her that these weren't her feelings. It wasn't she that considered herself dirty and impure, but the Collective. She was forgotten about as were the other newly awakened drones. The Collective had only one purpose now: find the Daleks and ensure they remained pure! The other drones ignored her, and indeed, each other. She attempted to initiate a repair procedure on the damage to the cube, but the drones ignored her. The nano-probes would repair the damaged hull, but far too slowly and inefficiently.
What had happened? 4 of 6 returned to her regeneration alcove and began her sequence. The answers would be found in the Collective. Upon awakening several hours later, sh reviewed what she had learned. Everything that the Collective had learned about the Daleks flowed. She reviewed the battle, reviewed the assimilation and the process of adding the Dalek's consciousness to the Collective. As the Dalek's voice invaded the Collective, she thought it had taken over. Then she realized what had actually happened: the Dalek was impure, whatever its standards of purity were! Its profound guilt at its own impurity was so strong that it pervaded the Collective. Now, the Collective was ashamed of its assimilation practices; adding to this false sense of impurity. Every Borg drone only contributed to the Borg's impurity.
Upon 4 of 6's first thought was that she had to escape the cube. It was only a matter of time before another cube came along and realize that it was tainted. Then she realized that this was not a Borg thought. She didn't care. She wasn't a Borg. She was a Romulan! That unexpected thought stopped her. If she were awakened, she would have all of her memories back, and she didn't, yet she knew certain facts about her life before the Borg and they were all coming to the surface each moment. Still, she knew the Dalek reasoning and now she understood their technology. The threat they posed to the Borg and to the universe was far greater than they could imagine. Their weapons were far more advanced than the Borg had ever known. Their defenses were far more advanced than the Borg. Even now, the Collective struggled to understand what it had assimilated.
When her proximity alarm sounded, she realized it may be too late to take action. The damaged Dalek had sent a signal before it was assimilated, and his brethren had heard. Now a saucer shaped ship confronted the cube. Scans showed that the Dalek had been a mere sample of the technology their species offered. Romulan curiosity coupled with Borg drive, and the Collective, though weak and broken, still maintained a strong hold on her. She contacted the saucer. "We are Borg. You will be assimilated. Your consciousness will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
The deep voice of a Dalek sounded throughout the cube. "YOU WILL OBEY." Five Daleks transported into the queen's chamber. Now, for the first time, 4 of 6 could see that the queen was dead, overwhelmed by the failure of the Collective. The chamber was many levels and sections away, but that did not matter. Through the Collective, all Borg were one. The assimilated Dalek approached the new arrivals. Now, a new signal came through the Collective. The Daleks were overriding the Collective! Without a queen, the Daleks were able to tie directly into the central plexus and take control of the cube and all of the Borg within. Much depended on the Daleks understanding how to operate as a hive mind. Even the Collective often didn't catch awakened Borg. So long as she pretended to be just another drone, they wouldn't notice, but what was their intention? If what she learned from the lone Dalek was true, they would not hesitate to destroy the Borg.
The assimilated Dalek was strong and it pushed past the Collective. "YOU...ARE...PURE..."
The leader of the Daleks, the yellow one, said, "CORRECT."
"I...AM...IMPURE..."
"CORRECT."
"I...WILL...BE...EXTERMINATED..."
"INCORRECT."
"EXPLAIN..."
"SINCE THE DAWN OF OUR KIND, WE HAVE BATTLED THE DOCTOR. ALWAYS, WE HAVE FAILED. HE HAS DEFEATED US AT EVERY TURN. IT IS BECAUSE OF HIM OUR CONQUEST OF EARTH FAILS. THIS GALAXY RESISTS US. WE MUST BE SUPREME. WE HAVE ANALYZED YOUR BATTLE WITH THE BORG. THEY ARE INFERIOR, BUT THEIR TECHNOLOGY MAY TURN THE TIDE OF OUR WAR. WE MAY FINALLY CONQUER EARTH, THE GALAXY, ALL GALAXIES, BECAUSE OF THEM! WITH THE BORG WE WILL BE SUPREME!"
"BUT...THE BORG ARE...INFERIOR!"
"CORRECT, BUT IF THEY CAN BE MADE LIKE US, THEY MAY BE USEFUL SERVANTS. YOU ARE ALREADY TAINTED. YOU WILL TAKE CONTROL OF THE CENTRAL PLEXUS OF THIS COLLECTIVE AND YOU WILL TAKE THIS CUBE."
"I OBEY!"
"THEN WE SHALL CONQUER THE BORG AND FROM THEIR REMAINS WE WILL BECOME A NEW DALEK EMPIRE!"
Four months later...
"Stardate 72891, U. S. S. Magellan Captain's log, Nathan Daly in command. We've finished our survey of Beliot sector and are preparing to return to space dock for scheduled maintenance. Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary has occurred. The crew has been working hard and are looking forward to shore leave, and so am I."
It was the second year of the voyage of the Magellan under Captain Daly. She was an updated Sovereign class starship with all of the bells and whistles. Not once had she been in an altercation. Not once had she been involved in an interstellar incident, and she had made three first contacts. To say that Daly was proud of his ship and his crew was an understatement. Ending his log entry, he stood and walked to the portal, watching the stars streak by. After a moment of introspection, the red alert sounded. Looking back at the flashing lights, he grimaced.
Stepping out onto the bridge from his ready room, he looked to his first officer. He was an older man, and Daly often wondered why he had never made the captaincy. His report had made no mention of any disciplinary action serious enough to prevent his promotion, nor were there any comments about his ability or character. Nevertheless, here was Commander Thomas Eggerley, a full 15 years Daly's senior.
"Report," said Daly.
Eggerley stood up, having been seated in the Captain's Chair. "That unidentified signature I told you about an hour ago? It set an intercept course and got close enough for us to get a look. The signal doesn't conform to anything we know, but it looks like a Borg Cube."
"Full stop. On screen." Empty space appeared before him. Apparently, the magnification was set to zero. He had had this discussion with his operations officer before. "So I can see it," he said, slight edge to his voice. A Borg Cube appeared on screen, a green glow coming from beneath the machinery covering its outer hull. "How long until they reach us?"
"At their present speed, five minutes," said the operations officer.
"What?" Had there been a mistake? Long range sensors could see over several light-years. For the Borg Cube to cover that distance in an hour, or five minutes, was impossible. It couldn't have been transwarp as Borg transwarp was conducted through subspace conduits. "How fast are they going?"
"I can't even think of a name for it, Sir. I think...there's some kind of temporal distortion effect. I think they're augmenting their warp field; some kind of temporal distortion field, adding an element of time travel to their propulsion."
"Send a signal to Starfleet. Inform them that we are about to encounter the Borg. Also alert them to this new technological development they seem to have made."
After a few moments, the operations officer said, "I'm sorry, Captain. All communications are jammed." That was...unfortunate. Daly considered retreating, but even that was impossible. This cube could easily overtake them. And in the course of everything, the Borg were already within range. "Captain, we're being hailed." Daly didn't have to give the order; the Borg simply hijacked their frequency.
"You will be assimilated or you will be exterminated. Lower your shields and surrender!"
Daly's eyes widened. He stood for a moment, not sure how to react. "That's not their traditional greeting." He turned to Eggerley. "If we open communications, maybe we can stall for time."
"Sir," said the operations officer, "they're powering their weapons. Type unknown! Defensive systems, unknown!" The panic in his voice was unmistakable.
"People, we've been trained to fight the Borg and this ship was designed with the Borg in mind." Daly cringed inwardly. After two years of easy sailing, he should have realized these people might fold in the face of a threat. He should have used the holodecks for regular simulations. He should have made sure they stayed sharp. "Reroute power from all non-essential systems to the shields." Daly turned to his tactical officer. "Chell, initiate the Borg protocols."
The Borg voice came through the bridge again. "Sensors show you are not complying with our orders. Obey! Obey!" What was this? It was as though the Borg had turned psychotic.
Chell said, "Sir, they're targeting our engines."
Daly didn't wait for them to fire. Taking his chair, he said, "Evasive maneuvers. Chell, don't wait for them to fire. Just shoot."
The ship rocked and alarms shouted from every station. Chell reported that the weapons and all rotations weren't having any effect. Even the experimental transphasic torpedoes were bouncing harmlessly off of the Borg's shields. The Borg were firing relentlessly, and Magellan's shields were gone in less than a minute. Armor was being ripped from the Magellan's hull. They activated ablative armor, but it was equally useless against this Borg terror. This cube had been equipped to destroy.
"Forward phasers have been knocked out."
"Hull integrity at 47 percent."
"Hull breaches on decks 4, 8, 9, 14, and 18."
"We've lost life support."
Not a chance: they didn't stand a chance. Magellan was a fly and that cube was a newspaper. Daly felt he should be angry, bitter, even scared. This calm resignation was useless. There was something that could be done, some way he could save his crew, if he could just think of it. This was no way for these people to die. He wanted to shout that it wasn't fair. Yet, all he could say were the only words left that could make a difference. "Abandon ship. All hands, abandon ship." They were the last words he'd ever say as the hull protecting the bridge shattered. Once it was obvious that the Magellan could do nothing, the assimilation began.