RAGNAROK 2
Author: Rocky

Prologue

Smoke filled the air of the bridge. Damaged consoles crackled and sparked. Janeway stood amid the turmoil, staring at the heavily armored cube on the main viewscreen. The Borg's message hadn't varied over time; more than once Voyager's captain had stood in this very spot and heard those ominous words.

"We are the Borg. Your vessel will be assimilated, your biological and technological distinctiveness added to our own. Resistance is futile."

Only one of the cubes that had unexpectedly emerged from the conduit had remained to engage them in battle. The others had immediately taken off to God knows where, perhaps to rendezvous with the main fleet that was heading this way, less than 16 hours away from their current position. But even one cube was sufficient to wreak havoc aboard Voyager.

The first shot penetrated their regular shields as if they weren't even there-it was only the secondary Zornon reinforcements that had afforded the Federation vessel any protection whatsoever. The Borg had the upper hand in defensive capabilities as well; despite the modulating frequencies, Voyager's phasers glanced off the cube without having any discernible effect.

"Report!" Janeway ordered without turning around. Behind her she heard the controlled chaos as Kim fought to reroute his board and Tuvok strove to return fire and keep them one step ahead of the onslaught.

"Hull breaches on decks 11, 3 and 14," Kim announced at last. "Emergency forcefields are holding. A conflagration on deck 6 is being brought under control. Reports of injured arriving in Sickbay...13 casualties, status ranging from moderate to critical."

Janeway moved over to the tactical station. She was peripherally aware of Chakotay and Ensign Mulcahey frantically working on one of the sizzling consoles, trying to contain the damage. Onscreen, the cube could be seen firing again. "Helm, evasive maneuvers, pattern 'Sigma One.'"

"Aye, Captain." Paris' hands flew over his controls, but the ship did not respond as expected. "She's sluggish-I need more power."

The captain slapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Engineering." There was no response. Damn. Either communications were going down, or all hell had broken loose down there. "Engineering! Come in, please."

A few heartbeats later there was finally an answer. "Engineering. Lieutenant Nicoletti here."

Nicoletti? Where was Torres? At the helm, Paris stiffened but didn't take his eyes off his station.

"Engineering, reroute more power to helm!" Janeway said, struggling to remain upright, as Voyager rocked once more.

Again there was a delay, but at least his time the chief engineer herself answered. "Sorry, Captain," said Torres. "You can have full impulse power at helm, or you can have weapons. I can't give you both."

"Acknowledged." Janeway's mouth tightened. She looked at Tuvok, and inclined her head toward the grid displayed on his console. "Any success at penetrating their armor?"

"Sensors indicate a slight weakening here-" Tuvok indicated a specific area "-near the central plexus. However, shield integrity at that spot has only dropped 18%. We would need an additional drop of 36% before our weapons could have any noticeable effect."

Not for the first time Janeway wished for one of the tri-cobalt devices Voyager had been equipped with seven years earlier. But they had used up their limited supply almost immediately-in the destruction of the Caretaker's Array, and beating off the early waves of Kazon attacks-and that was that. Might as well wish for some corbomite.

"Too bad we can't just ask them to lower their shields for us," muttered Paris as he continued to struggle with the helm. Although still tense, he'd relaxed visibly when his wife's voice had been heard over the comm. Janeway also noted that despite the adverse conditions, he'd managed to increase the distance between themselves and the attacking vessel.

"Why can't we?" asked Chakotay, returning to his seat. "Get them to lower their shields, I mean."

Janeway's head snapped up. "Why not, indeed." She rushed over to Ops. "Harry, let's try to disrupt their internal communications."

Kim caught on quickly. "I could send a jamming message via the transceiver frequencies we've recorded the Queen using on previous occasions."

"Exactly," said Janeway. "On a cube that size, we're bound to find some faint resonance. We should be able to slow down their response time, at the very least. Even if it's only nanoseconds, that can give us the opportunity we need. Tuvok, stand by to fire on my mark."

"Understood, Captain," the Vulcan replied. "Readying photon torpedoes."

A minute or two later-Janeway no longer trusted her sense of time passage-Kim reported, "It's working, Captain! Their shields are weakening"

The captain didn't hesitate. "Tuvok, now!"

At Tuvok's command, a barrage of photon torpedoes streaked toward the cube. They slammed against the same vulnerable spot in rapid succession. "I'm reading a power surge near the main processor," Tuvok announced.

A reddish glow blossomed in the upper right hand corner of the cube. "It's going to blow!" Chakotay said an instant later.

"Tom, get us-" the rest of Janeway's words were lost as a brilliant explosion lit up the darkness. The bridge rocked as the cube's debris bombarded Voyager. Mercifully, the overstrained shields held.

When the shaking subsided, Janeway glanced at the image of the cube once more. A gaping hole was revealed in the upper corner of the Borg vessel, with smaller craters pitting the surrounding areas. The entire cube was dark and lifeless against the backdrop of stars. Janeway heaved a sigh, but not one of relief.

"You did it again, Captain," Paris said, his voice less steady than usual. "Pulled another rabbit right out of that hat."

Janeway ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "Unfortunately, we're running out of rabbits," she said, more sharply than she intended. "We won't be able to use that trick again."

"Which may have been the aim of this attack," Chakotay said thoughtfully.

Tuvok agreed. "This was most likely a feint on the part of the Collective, to test our ability and weaponry."

Janeway smiled grimly. "Well, gentlemen, if that was a test, the final exam's less than 16 hours away."