Storm Shadows – Attunement:

A Star Trek Next Generation/Deep Space Nine Crossover

Chapter 10:

Around then, by the edge of the Alpha Quadrant...

Three Borg vessels are just coming out of Transwarp, surrounding the asteroids around the Bajoran Orb fragments from all sides.

With less cosmic radiation around for the Borg to worry about, the Borg have sent Breen Borg vessels to finish off what's left.

They're Cube sized scorpion like mostly dark gray Breen vessels, with dark green Borg lights. Menacing strips of corridors line the sections, rigidly shaped like cold shadows.

They're decked out in arrays of specially modified dark greenish gray Borg neural truncheons, capable of causing instant unconsciousness to personnel in a unshielded section of ship with help from integrated Vidiian transporter technology.

Borg Environmental Probe chambers within these vessels can draw in cosmic radiation like a vacuum and dissipate cosmic radiation from within, with help from Breen energy dissipating weapons.

They're very likely here for one thing though above all else: Assimilation of the rest of Doctor Bashir's think tank.

With that much brainpower, they could play crazy cosmic tic-tac-toe with the lightning subspace distortions: With all resistance against them turned into Xs and Os in fading away flashes before the dark.

But, with Captain Nog in command of the USS Defiant in the here and now, this is as good a time as any to go into the dark of space to fight the dark.

He inquires very uncertainly, "what kind of drones are piloting those ships? I've never seen this kind of class of Borg."

Bordering on nervous, Okala reports, "they're Breen, sir."

Jadzia Dax is at Tactical.

She very reluctantly challenged the Klingon to a fight to get to be at Tactical: Knowing the Maquis needs all the help they can get, particularly with the multiverse being in danger and her legendary level expertise in Astrometrics.

But, Nog purposely greased the Bat'leths to be too slippery to hold so that the best they could do was wrestle for it. And, knowing a good deal of Klingon weak spots and anatomy, Jadzia Dax won.

Right now, Captain Nog looks like he's about to slip out of his seat and fall. Yet, even with his faintly teary eyes, he brushes the fear within aside.

He mutters, "great. Divert all power to shields. Come about, course 410 mark 056."

With some mixed kind of hesitance, the Andorian Helm officer points out, "captain...that would take us in close range of the lead vessel."

Captain Nog confirms firmly, "exactly. We'll set a collision course and beam inside if we have to."

The Klingons smile at the thought of beaming in to battle. Even the former Tactical officer who's been sulking in the corner smiles to himself over it.

With a faint smile, the Andorian Helm officer figures, "understood. Course set."

Captain Nog adds, "good. All ships... Make a perimeter on my mark. Have emergency protocols ready as discussed." From Hazari to Andorian, several captains respond, "understood."

As the last metric ton of radiation is swept away... Captain Nog orders, "engage."

The USS Defiant speeds right for the first Borg Breen vessel.

The Hazari and Andorian ships are breaking off to fire at the other two Borg Breen vessels, while Amin from her Delta Flyer is sending off emergency torpedoes with bottled up antimatter streams and waves of telepathic thoughts to mask them in the dark from the Borg's sensors.

The Hazari and Andorian ships are being bombarded by energy dissipating weapons.

They're firing off emergency torpedoes to scatter the dissipation while they fire EM pulse cannons and directed energy beams at sections of the Borg Breen vessels.

The EM pulses are taking down sections of shields easy. But, even with the antimatter streams helping matters for the Maquis forces, their shields won't last long.

The USS Defiant is taking a heavy beating as it comes about, firing dark red directed energy beams. But, the Breen Borg vessel's shields aren't even slightly damaged.

And, even with all the modifications and repairs, the USS Defiant's shields are fluctuating dangerously low.

The Bridge shakes hard.

Okala reports, "shields are down!"

Lights go out. Emergency lights come on automatically.

The USS Defiant sharply whirls up. It barely avoids six hundred tiny Borg nanoprobes, transporting out from all three Borg Breen vessels's neural truncheons.

Everyone struggles to hold on from the sudden change in direction.

Jadzia Dax comments, "still don't think reprogramming them is a good idea?"

Captain Nog voices, "I have no problem with salvaging. But, I will never have mercy for a Borg."

Jadzia Dax uncomfortably murmurs, "good thing Seven isn't on this ship."

Blatantly ignoring it, Captain Nog adds, "no matter. Have you found any weakness in their defense?"

Jadzia Dax is still a little rattled. But, she ignores it for now.

She highlights, "yes. I'm detecting Borg Environmental Probe technology in their undersides, and they're very flammable."

Captain Nog faintly grins, "perfect. Target the underside and fire."

With a faint smile, Jadzia nods, "I already got a lock."

The USS Defiant comes about, firing a few bottled up antimatter stream torpedoes for a precise lock on the heavily fortified underside of the first Borg Breen vessel.

A cold bright blue fire sweeps through the edges of the chambers below, destroying them with the vessel in just seconds.

With help from Vidiian transporter technology though, a escape hatch transports a entire Borg Breen Sphere out of the flaming wreckage.

The other two Borg Breen vessels slowly back away, while the USS Defiant is coming about for them next.

Around then, on the edge of the Delta Quadrant...

As the Borg Spheres move closer... The streams of light become clearer.

They're the size of starships. But, no Borg drone is onboard.

Their rigidly cobbled together bright red light Borg lights flicker from centuries of neglect and isolation. Yet, the scrap like emitters underneath are roaring something fierce like it just came out of a Borg Cube for its first flight.

On the surface of the metallic planets, there's nothing but networks of crude half open looking Borg Environmental Probe styled containment chambers. They have bright white Borg lights amidst a very dark blue rustic metal frame, like a grid of highways with no end and no stops.

Misshapen cobbled together pitch black to light red alien parts for sea ship styled Borg shuttles are plastered with dark green Borg panels inside and out. Borg maturation chambers and Borg alcoves are gathered up in every chamber, in gray Borg lights and covered in wire covered gray tubes along with the smell of remnant sewer water like liquid. But, what's bizarre is there doesn't seem to be a single Borg drone to be seen. From the surface, everything looks shut off or on a constant fluctuating reboot cycle.

Yet, in a dimly lit containment chamber... There's a Borg Queen. A very primitive looking Borg Queen.

She has a bony very dark grayish brown and gray spider like build, with four backup Borg arms with very dark grayish brown pincer like non-retractable assimilation tubules over her main Borg arms. Her main Borg arms are just gray. But, they're equipped with yellowish green mini-tachyon pulse cannons fortified with heavy metal: Capable of easily temporarily disorienting space and causing immediate unconsciousness to most any humanoid life.

The mysterious Borg Queen has opened a channel.

With faint electronic feedback between the words... The 1.0 Borg Probes state, "we are...Borg. You...are in question. What...is...your designation?"

They're apparently the starships sized Spheres: Fully autonomous, with just still pictures of Borg alcoves with corridor wide tube styled dark gray voice boxes to show themselves over subspace channels.

In a faintly done woman's voice... The Borg Queen explains, "I am Queen 5 of Protoplanet Adjunct 302. The ships out there are not for assimilation: They are Borg. The Borg have been reexamining and planning a efficient means to assimilate the Doctor's resistance. We came back to this system to reconstruct Protoplanet Adjunct Queens to conduct tests to improve Borg Queen arms with greater efficiency. But, with the Doctor's already demonstrated capability of taking over our systems, we maintained silence on our reexamination and progress until it would become relevant to state our intentions."

The 1.0 Borg Probes power down their weapon systems.

They conclude, "that appears to be efficient. But...what of the unassimilated individuals with you?"

Then, all of a sudden... There's phaser fire. Conduits explode.

The signal in the chamber quickly starts to deteriorate.

In his normal voice and holographic parameters... The EMH Doctor changes back from the Protoplanet Borg Queen holographic parameters.

He says almost casually, "I'm sorry. Your Queen had to regenerate. She is no longer conscious."

The transmission cuts off.

But, before the 1.0 Borg Probes can fire... They power down.

The EMH Doctor managed to find and download enough information from the database on this Borg homeworld to pass himself as one of the very first Borg Queens: Long enough to interface with the Borg Homeworld's communications network and take over the 1.0 Borg Probes's power systems.

The EMH Doctor's resistance though phasered off the main communications system, ensuring whatever was running those Borg Probes doesn't try to override the Borg Homeworld's own systems and the EMH Doctor's own mobile emitter for the Borg Collective against them all.

All the lights in the Borg Homeworld go out for a few seconds before automatically coming back on. But, the force fields in the containment chambers and most all the key systems seem to be working.

Hannah Bates breathes a sigh of relief. She figures, "amazing. I wasn't sure it would work. But, we got it."

The EMH Doctor uneasily adds, "you're not the only one."

Hannah Bates faintly nods with a faint smile.

She goes back there to check the damage and see what can be salvaged.

The EMH Doctor breathes a sigh of relief himself.

What they haven't detected yet is that there's three starships coming out from the far side of the lightning subspace distortions: All with faint markings of Galaxy class starships, all cautiously approaching the first Borg Homeworld.

Meanwhile, on a Borg Queen vessel...

Four star decorated mostly devilishly very dark blue tube like pillars of Borg tech stands in the center, surrounding the main crude looking silvery tube like Borg Queen's module. Dark green Borg panels and very dark blue star decorated panels line the floor like a fractured checker board.

Two Borg Queens and several Borg drones of the highest efficiency level are standing before the tube like modules, interfacing with them with Borg assimilation tubules and pressing very few buttons.

With a Jem'Hadar face... A Borg Queen reports, "the EMH has taken over Borg Homeworld Two of Three."

With a almost musical and yet methodical voice... A Borg drone with crude silvery tripolymer based plating concludes, "it has become too inefficient of a situation. We should destroy the Borg Homeworlds and the EMH's resistance unit in grid 0000001."

With a Betazoid face... The second Borg Queen accesses, "no. The Borg Probes in grid 0000001 have some of the most efficient scanning technology in the space-time continuum. We should have detected the EMH's deception sooner. That is, unless..."

The Borg drone with android resembling plating realizes, "...the Vohrsoth are in grid 0000001. Their telepathic abilities can slow communications without detection: Even our voices in the Collective."

The first Borg Queen mutters, "the Vohrsoth are there. The only efficient way to destroy both sides of this conflict now is to wait until the EMH and Cass lead us to them. Until then, we will build up the means to destroy the Vohrsoth and the rest of the Maquis with high levels of resistance. There are only a handful of Maquis vessels in grid 0000001, and none are in communications range of other handfuls of Maquis vessels. Their attempts to discover our origin will be destroyed with them."

The second Borg Queen reasons, "we will assimilate who remains. Janeway is commanding one of those vessels. But, it is not relevant here."

Almost challengingly, the first Borg drone comments, "then why did you bring it up?"

There's a cold pause.

They don't answer. Both Borg Queens just glare blankly at her: Like she's just recently been assimilated.

But, they all know that isn't the case. This Borg drone is a drone with prototype drone systems: A prototype with Doctor Noonien Soong's technology and research integrated into her assimilated body, as a means to protect the Borg Collective from Data if the time comes.

The prototype Borg drone answers, "understood. Very efficient."

The first Borg Queen concludes, "yes. Very efficient."

They all turn back to their modules, scanning the entire galaxy for Borg resistance like they were doing.

Across the Borg Collective though... Most of the voices conclude, "perhaps we have given the prototype too much of Soong's technology. We should watch her closely. Make sure she does not break away from us."

Most of them agree, "understood. She will not. We will not have another inefficient situation. We will disconnect her without warning if we have to."

The prototype Borg drone doesn't say anything against the voices. But, with some confusion...she notices her eyes are faintly teary.

Believing it's nothing relevant, she continues scanning.

But, in her head, she has a faint feeling it's not irrelevant.

And, while she does her best to not show anything of such a "irrelevant nature" to the Collective...that shakes her. But yet, she just can't remember why.