Chapter 1 Invasion

SPACE….THE FINAL FRONTIER….

THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE….

IT'S CONTINUING MISSION….

TO EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORLDS….

TO SEEK OUT NEW LIFE AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS…..

TO BODLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE

Captain's Log Stardate: 54522.2 We once again find ourselves preparing for war. Following the discovery of the Borg colony in the Regula Badlands, The Badlands is an inhospitable area of space located at the far edge of the Federation. Filled with mostly uninhabitable worlds, asteroid belts and nebulas it has no real value. So why would the Borg colonize a world there? And how did they get so deep into the Alpha Quadrant undetected. Starfleet, in desperate need of answers has dispatched the Enterprise along with several other Federation ships to investigate this latest Borg threat.

The Enterprise was joined by one Galaxy-class, two Akira-class a Venture-class and two construction ships to assist in the attack on the Borg. Picard looked at his tactical display and began issuing orders.

"Number one, have the construction ships begin building mining facilities near these two moons, then have one of them build a sensor array and phaser turret. The other should find a planet nearby and build an Orbital mining station." He said

"Aye sir."

A moment later, as their orders were received the construction ships moved to their prescribed locations and the worker bees began assembling and 'welding' the pieces together. In moments two mining stations had been completed and two freighters, included in the parts for the stations began mining of the dilithium moons. The 'northern' construction ship found a class-D planet rich in metals. It built an Orbital Processing station then built three defensive phaser turrets near it.

Data spoke up an hour later. "Captain, we've located the planet Regula-II. No lifesigns detected."

"Thank you Mr. Data, as soon as resources are available have a construction ship build a research facility, once complete order the shipyard to build a colony ship and colonize that planet. In the mean time, have it build an Orbital Processing facility at Regula-II and then three phaser turrets here, here and here. This will be the beginnings of our perimeter." Said Picard pointing to three spots 'south' of the planet. "Those Latinum nebulas may come in handy, build an outpost near them as soon as possible and begin mining from those nebulas."

"Should we dispatch mining ships from the dilithium stations? It would save resources." Riker pointed out.

"True, but at the same time it would decrease the amount of dilithium being processed. No, have the outpost build three mining ships, one for each nebula." Replied Picard

"Aye sir."

It took a few hours but eventually an outpost, research facility and three more turrets were built. The shipyard took another five to assemble the colony ship. As the colony ship was launched it immediately set a course for Regula-II and began colonizing. Two hours later a small Federation colony was present on Regula-II.

"Number one I want to begin assembling a fleet. Have the shipyard build Defiant and Akira-class ships whenever possible, assign the first sixteen ships to 'Fleet One." Ordered Picard.

"That will take some time, we have limited crew available at the moment." Replied Riker

"Captain, Outpost 27 is reporting contact with the Borg. It appeared to be a scout ship. They have destroyed it." Said Data.

"Very well." Replied Picard

"Sir, transmission from the Borg." Said Riker

"We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is-" Picard cut the channel before they could finish.

"You would think after what we did to them in the Delta Quadrant they would back off for a while." Said Riker.

"They are persistent number one." Said Picard

A few hours later a small outpost was built in high orbit above Regula-II. Three mining ships were built and began mining the Latinum nebulas. Meanwhile the Borg were probing the defenses of the Federation base using Spheres, Assimilators, Detectors and Interceptors. Luckily the phaser turrets had been enhanced with the multiple phaser targeting system and were powerful enough to destroy them quickly.

The Federation base began to expand once again, the construction ship built another orbital station above a class-D moon and another mining station near a dilithium moon. Phaser turrets were built to protect them. An outpost was temporarily built to provide three more mining ships, instead of having to escort them from the main base. As soon as they were built the outpost was decommissioned and phaser turrets were built to protect the station and freighters.

"Captain, sensors have detected what appears to be a small Borg base near the edge of the system." Said Data

"Very well, have Fleet One lay in a course and destroy any Borg ships or stations in that area. Number One, send a message to Starfleet command, inform them of the objectives we've achieved so far." Said Picard

"Aye sir." Replied Riker

Four hours later, Fleet one reported back, they had lost two Akira-class ships and three Defiant-class, but they destroyed a Borg Assembly matrix, processing node, some freighters and pulse turrets.

"Very good all ships regroup at the shipyard and repair and recrew if necessary." Ordered Picard.

At this point the Borg made a concerted effort to drive the Federation out of the system using about two dozen ships. With Picard in command however, the Federation quickly drove them back with a minimum of casualties. They even captured a Borg scout ship. "Number one how are our resources looking?" asked Picard

"Very good sir, we have 10,000 units of dilithium and metal, another 5,000 latinum and reserve crew of 15,000."

"Have the shipyard start on a second fleet, again a mixture of Defiants and Akiras, I'll leave the exact composition up to the yard commander." Said Picard

"Sir, sensors have detected additional transwarp signatures in this system." Said Data, highlighting the positions of the transwarp signatures on Picard's tactical map. "Order fleet one to this location, along with a construction ship. As soon as the second fleet is ready have them rendezvous here. Then move deeper into the system" Replied Picard pointing to a spot on the map near the 'eastern' edge then to a position 'north' of the rendezvous.

"Aye sir." Replied Riker

The Fleet reported contact with several mining freighters and destroyed them. They then found a class-K planet available for colonization. Instead of building a colony ship at the first shipyard, the construction ship built another shipyard in orbit of the K-class planet. The shipyard built a colony ship and was decommissioned. The colony ship colonized the planet to provide an additional reserve of one thousand Starfleet officers. The Second fleet detected a large Borg structure near a planet not far from the K-class. It was a Nexus: the Borg version of a starbase or outpost.

Picard ordered both fleets to engage. The First fleet targeted the Nexus while the second fleet targeted nearby ships and the Nexus when possible. It took some time and the loss of several starships before the Nexus was destroyed. The fleets moved on to clear the area around a nearby H-class planet, destroying a modification center and another assembly matrix.

"Helm lay in a course for the Borg colony, maximum warp. Number one, have the Geronimo follow us." Said Picard

The Sovereign-class and Galaxy-class went to warp, and then had to proceed at impulse for a while due to a nearby black hole. They then jumped to warp briefly and arrived at the colony. Then, in one of the few instances the Federation engaged in orbital bombardment of a planet, the Enterprise and Geronimo fired on the colony with phasers and torpedoes. In moments the colony was nothing but ash.

Picard tapped a position on his map, both fleet moved 'west' and destroyed another Nexus and processing facility. "All combat ships, initiate search and destroy protocols. Search pattern Alpha one. Engage." Said Picard

Six hours later the system had been cleared of the Borg.

Captain's log supplemental: The Borg threat to the Regula badlands has been eliminated, and Starfleet is dispatching additional ships to secure the region. We have also discovered a unique type of nebula near the site of the former Borg colony. Sensor scans of this nebula reveal a high concentration of tachyon particles and the presence of residual transwarp signatures. It may be that the Borg have developed a new type of transwarp gate that allows them to travel greater distances than we ever thought possible. If this proves to be true no planet in the Alpha Quadrant will be safe from their grasp. I fear this may be the case as even now our base at Alpha Theta VI is reporting contact with the Borg.