Chapter 11: Does the Center Hold?
Their Bajoran escorts had been left at the cave entrance. The Jedi knew there was nothing the Bajorans could do. Halcyon wonders if Nu will be any more help in the battle that is sure to come and would have preferred she stay behind too, but of course she refused.
The two are silent walking through the caves. Dooku hasn't set any traps, but their guard can't let up for a second. It took hours getting this far, but Halcyon feels the end approaching. He doesn't dare say anything out loud, but he sends a message with the Force, "Master Nu, it has been a true honor working with you on this mission." He means every word of it. Watching Nu is watching a true master at work, the likes of which he doesn't expect to see again.
"The pleasure has been all mine," she thinks back. Halcyon can feel her pain even as she thinks the words. Jedi or no, she is old and her body has taken a lot in the last day.
They turn a corner and see a wide opening. Dooku is pouring something over the edge. He turns to them. "Look what fate has sent me. Two Jedi to be the final sacrifice."
"We are the Borg." A simple statement of who they are and why you should listen. "Lower your shields and surrender your vessels." The logical next step of an encounter with the Borg. "Your culture will adapt to service us." The promise for the future; heartless to everyone else, but to the Borg a promise that your culture will be put into something larger and more important. "Resistance is Futile." The statement that the Borg will win and trying to avoid that outcome is pointless.
As the cubes approach Coruscant, the Republic ships break into groups. Each group is assigned a group of cubes. As had been recommended by Picard, each group is instructed to concentrate their fire on a single cube and eliminate it before concentrating on another. Behind the Republic ships, hundreds of Corta ships and a handful of other recent allies of the Republic set up position preparing to join in the next wave.
The Republic ships fire as soon as they are within range and the Borg do the same. The ships do not stop and soon the ships are intermixed. The first Republic ships to enter the fray quickly start to disappear, but the first line of Borg ships also start to look beaten up. Regeneration begins at remarkable speeds, but the Republic ships don't let up and the Milky Way allies pull in and start their own assaults.
Halcyon and Nu activate their lightsabers. Dooku laughs. "Master Nu, I spared you before. Are you sure you are ready for another round?"
Nu looks at Dooku. There was nothing odd about the words themselves, but the way he said them sounds so unlike himself. His natural charm is gone she realizes. In the Force, he feels like a completely changed person. What had happened to him? "You have gone mad Dooku. The Pah-wraiths will bring nothing but destruction. This is not what you said you wanted for the galaxy."
Dooku laughs. "My imagination was too limited. Now I understand true power." He pulls his lightsaber out and the red blade activates.
As the ships of the Republic and Borg fight, more than a hundred thousand commercial, government, and military vessels from thousands of worlds sit in another part of the solar system unsure of what to do. Some head to Coruscant trying to transport representatives back to their ships. Others are already setting course away from the system. Most are still watching, not sure how to respond. On the Enterprise, Picard looks at the numbers. "Estimation of the Republic's odds?"
Data responds quickly with his calculations. "Difficult to say with available data and known Borg adaptation. Given the large number of Republic encounters with the Borg, I cannot estimate how quickly the Borg can continue to adapt or if they have already fully adapted to Republic weapons. I estimate the Republic stands somewhere between a 39.2% and a 48.3% change of repelling the invasion with its current force. If Republic reinforcements continue arriving at the rate they are now, the percent rises to between 49.9% and 60.7%."
Picard shook his head. If Coruscant fell now, their best hope of a force cable of fighting the Borg would be greatly diminished. The Republic had a galaxy worth of resources to call on, but so many of its forces had been sent to the Delta Quadrant or elsewhere in the galaxy. It had only been hours between his warnings getting through and now and…and a loss here could send them into complete disarray.
"Data prepare to coordinate the movement of thousands of ships."
"Sir?"
"Just do it."
Data moved to a side station and started hitting a number of buttons.
"Lt. Slaughter, open a channel to all non-engaged ships."
"Yes sir," said the tactical offer. It took a few moments before saying, "Ready sir."
"This is Captain Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. The Republic is currently fighting the Borg. They are a cybernetic race who control a substantial portion of the Delta Quadrant. The goal of the Borg is to assimilate the entire galaxy, to take all intelligent life in the galaxy and turn it into Borg."
Picard pauses for just a moment and speaks slower. "I know most of you know little or nothing of the Borg. I know getting involved in a battle of this kind violates orders you have and would risk your life."
"I also know though that the Borg are enemies to all life. Their message wasn't just sent to Republic ships; it was sent to everyone here. It has been sent to thousands of worlds who have never done anything except provide the Borg with a target they deem worthy of assimilation. If you leave, they will not stop here. If you leave, the most organized force ever to oppose them might be eliminated and we will regret this day for the rest of our lives. Today we have the chance to stand up and stop the Borg."
"If you are willing to fight the Borg with us, send a message to the Enterprise. We are organizing a fleet to support the Republic and will be leaving momentarily."
Picard waits about 30 seconds and turns to Data, who is quickly clicking through the controls. "Sir, we have already received word from almost a 1000 ships asking to help."
Picard turns to the screen. He knows many of those 1000 will do little more than provide cannon fodder, but maybe they could make a difference. "Give them and any additional ships patterns to follow and ships to target."
"Helm, set a course for the battle."
Halcyon and Nu charge forward together, lightsabers held high. Dooku slides to his left giving him a chance to focus on Nu alone for a few strokes. She blocks the first one fine, but the strength behind the 2nd one knocks her back. Dooku's lightsaber drives toward her.
Halcyon dives forward and put his lightsaber between Dooku and Nu. The blade saves Nu by inches. Dooku withdraws and Halcyon attacks back.
Dooku lets himself be driven back some. Halcyon is younger and more powerful. Dooku is patient, deflecting each attacked.
The Enterprise led the next wave against the Borg. More than 4000 ships, some tagging behind a little, approached the battle. Among the ships were some small ones with minimal fire-power, but they were accompanied by powerful Milky Way ships wanting to make a good impression on the Republic, Delta Quadrant civilization ships who wanted nothing more than to be part of this fight, Republic merchant ships worried about those they cared about on Coruscant or in the Delta Quadrant, and some who simply deduced that the Borg were what they had been claimed and worth fighting.
Picard looked over a console. "Data, focus our efforts on the cubes in grid 7. That will give the Republic some relief without us overcrowding them."
Phasers, torpedoes, distributors, turbolasers, and ion cannons from the new fleet hit the cubes. As they do, Republic and allied ships successfully finished off the rest of the front line cubes. The odds have turned completely against the Borg.
Dooku had been allowing himself to circle, waiting for an attack from Halcyon that was just slightly too powerful. He feels it finally come and Dooku counters it and takes a small step to the right. His swing almost hits Halcyon.
Nu reenters the fight at that time though coming at Dooku from the side. Dooku gives a Force push to Halcyon just as Nu's blade comes at him. He doesn't try to block it.
Dooku drops to the ground and swings his lightsaber at Nu's legs, cutting clean through them midway between her knees and ankle. Nu falls to the ground hard with her eyes closing in pain.
Halcyon comes at Dooku, but the Sith is ready for him with his lightsaber up. Dooku mockingly says, "It was so nice working with her wasn't it?"
Picard asks, "How many cubes are left?"
"32 cubes are still functional enough to attack. Most have suffered severe damage and lost substantial mass."
"Don't let ships be ignored just because they can't fire right now, even if they are just a small section of the original cube."
Halcyon pushes aside his feelings of hurt and anger. They will do him no good. Nu fought well given her state, and he might still be able to save her later.
Halcyon knows Dooku will win this if it is a long drawn out fight. Dooku is the more experienced one and less likely to make a mistake over an extended period. A quick fight though might be different. Halcyon knows he needs to be quick and over-power Dooku. He swings again and again, not giving Dooku a chance to attack back or rest. Dooku blocks each blow.
Halcyon decides to take a new approach. He starts forcing Dooku toward the edge of the cliff edge. He does a quick jab to the left and then a swing to the right. Dooku anticipated the 2nd attempt and does a summer salt to the other side of Halcyon.
Halcyon turns around quick. He would have blocked a lightsaber attack easily. Dooku, still on the ground, uses Force lightning though hitting Halcyon a split second before he can get his lightsaber up. Halcyon is stunned by the lighting, pushed over the side, and falls to his death.
Picard watched on the viewscreen as pieces of the last cube disintegrated. Clapping could be heard around the bridge and he couldn't help smiling.
"Remind the Republic flagship that all ships need to be checked for Borg."
Picard walked over to Data.
He saw thousands of dots on the screen. He noticed a few by Coruscant. "What are those ships?"
"Republic ships mostly sir." Data hit a few buttons. "They were severely damaged in battle and sought safety behind the planet's shields." Data's voice dropped a note on that last part.
Picard had warned them to keep them away from the planet. There had been so much though; it must have slipped their minds. "Contact the planet. Tell them we may have a problem."
Nu watched Halcyon fall and could feel the triumph Dooku felt. Now was the only chance she would have. She concentrated on her still lit lightsaber sitting on the ground and used the Force to push it toward Dooku. Normally he would have easily blocked it, but he had been too focused on his triumph and only responded at the last minute. The lightsaber went through part of his side and he dropped to the ground, unable to believe what had just happened. He was going to die.
Drones continued to arrive in the secure building. The planet's shields and control of all emergency systems could be controlled from this location if necessary. Their immediate goal was to assimilate all systems here.
Nu saw Dooku collapse to the ground and felt his life draining. She wouldn't survive long enough to escape here in all likelihood either, but her life was a small sacrifice to stop Dooku now. She thought of the Achieves. This would be a story all the younglings would go look up. She smiled.
Nu looked back at Dooku. All of a sudden the life came back into him. No, more than just his life had returned to him.
He stared at her for a second. "You thought you won."
Nu burst into flames, killed instantly.