Emperor Narleeth Cartagia Jarn walked down a garden path, looking around. The Republican Gardens was breathtakingly beautiful and the colorful plants blocked the colonnade that surrounded it and closed it off from the public. Beyond was the hill that supported the Royal Palace above the river flowing through Imperial City. On the other side of the gardens, but adjoining the colonnade, was the vast dome of the Centaurum. Such a large and beautiful waste of space in the capital. Cartagia nodded. Perhaps he should build a temple to himself in the Gardens. But the Emperor was not a patient man. Perhaps…it would be much quicker and cheaper to commandeer the Coronation Temple. After all, once he becomes a god, the Centauri people won't have any more emperors. He would be known as…the GodEmperor!
But he wasn't there to look for a site for his temple. He frowned as he searched among the crowd of plants, fountains, decorative statues and birds. He wasn't afraid. There was no reason to be afraid. After all, the Royal Guards had the garden walls secured. Plus, he is the Emperor!
A Centauri lady appeared out of the foliage. Heavy veils hid her face and every inch of her skin was covered in her elaborate dress. Cartagia smirked. He recognized the dress as belonging to one of the high servants in the Palace. He liked to peel off, or rather tear off, clothes as he would open a present as a child. She was learning. Good!
And he fondly remembered the games that children played outside. They were outside in the sun now and they were alone. Good! Although an audience would make it better…perhaps he should summon the guards from outside to come in the gardens? No time. He was not a patient man. Cartagia raised his arms toward the lady, the shirt on his chest already stirring with his anticipation.
The lady approached and whispered, "Cartagia."
She repeated the name, this time with a normal voice although raspy. She was already in that state of the appropriate female attitude. The Emperor smiled. She is learning! But if she starts developing attachments….
"Cartagia!" The veiled lady was now screaming and running at the Emperor, the sun glinting off the metal of a dagger in her upraised hand.
Cartagia was stunned and couldn't move in his sudden fear and surprise. Murder! His eyes focused on the dagger, blinded by the sun shining off the gleaming onrushing metal.
A golden light flashed through the plants, striking the screaming lady in her exposed side. She gasped in surprise, dropped the dagger and collapsed onto the garden path. Cartagia finally breathed and looked to the source of the weapon. A god coming to save him? The flowering plants rustled and Londo Mollari stepped through. His face was grim and he was holding a Royal Guardsman's Tromo plasma gun.
Cartagia narrowed his eyes with suspicion. Was this really the pride of getting the first strike on his sacred person in assassination?
"Majesty," said Londo, "check the woman. I'll look around to see if there are any more assassins around." With that, the ambassador quickly went down the path where the lady walked from. As the Emperor, now trembling from his momentary fright, frisked the lady. His movements caused the heavy veils to fall away from her face. A look of shocked betrayal was frozen on her face, but…it was a female Narn face! Cartagia's eyes bulged and his gloved hands jerked back from the dirty creature.
The sound of a plasma bolt discharging came through the gardens caused Cartagia to jerk himself upright, eyes wide as saucers. Londo came back, his lips twisted in distaste. "Only a Guardsman. A traitor."
The Emperor wordlessly gestured down at the 'Centauri lady' on the ground. The ambassador glanced down at the Narn woman. His eyebrows drew together in a frown. Na'toth. "I see, Majesty. Have you found anything to identify how she escaped and was able to reach your sacred self?"
Cartagia looked down at the dead Narn as if she was a writhing mass of poison snakes and shook his head.
Londo sighed and began to frisk Na'toth's body. Stopping at a billowing sleeve, he tore at it and reached inside. He pulled out a golden medallion. Eyebrows rising with recognition at the object, he handed it to the Emperor.
The medallion was Centauri. It was a tessuro medallion. It must have been how the 'lady' was able to get past the guards around the Republican Gardens. Cartagia squinted at the symbols on it and rage began to distort his face. It was a tessuro of House Refa. It belonged to Lord Antono Refa, to be precise.
"Refa! I should have known he would act in bad faith as my…my…trusted counselor!" Cartagia tried to crush the medallion, but he wasn't GodEmperor yet.
Londo sighed in sympathy. "Majesty, we must think clearly about this. The medallion could have been stolen. What are you doing here, all alone with the guards outside at the walls? It's terribly dangerous, I think."
Cartagia opened and closed his mouth several times before answering. "I-I got…an invitation to a private picnic here. The letter was signed by the Lady Celes."
Londo appeared surprised and confused. "Celes? The wife of Refa? But why use a Narn? Any of our people would do for the right price."
The Imperial mind worked furiously at untangling the web spun by the traitor Refa in the Great Game, the Game of Houses. "He was responsible for the bombing of Narn. He chose the Imperial Overseer, the viceroy, for Narn. His House now holds lands on Narn and many of the former Narn colonies." Cartagia's face brightened with a horrible realization. "Great Maker! Refa must think that the road to my throne goes through Narn!"
Londo opened his mouth in an act of awe at the Emperor's divine powers of deduction. "Great Maker…. That's terrible, Majesty!" He shook his head in disappointment. "And he was supposed to have the Great Republic in his best interests. Power does attract corrupt men! But even this…twisted violence in his soul surprises me!"
Cartagia drew himself up straight and puffed out his chest. "My dear Londo, I am the Emperor. I am the Republic. Is not one of my titles 'the Empire Made Flesh'? It is my responsibility to touch matters of darkness from my lofty pure position. Londo, we are in your debt!"
Londo Mollari bowed deeply. "I am only a lowly Centauri here to serve you, my Emperor." His face now hidden from Cartagia, Londo stole a regretful glance at the dead face of Na'toth. He remembered the words of the technomage Elric as he prophesied for Londo.
I hear sounds…the sounds of billions of people calling your name.
My followers?
Your victims….
Babylon 5Susan Ivanova nodded her respects for Captain Sheridan as he hurried into the shuttle that would take him to White Star. The Borg crisis has just become more urgent when the news came of EarthForce's encounter with the Borg cube at Akdor in the Sh'lassien Triumvirate. The Centauri were one thing, but this was Earth, their homeworld!
As the shuttle was lifting for departure out of the docking bay to the jumpgate, Ivanova raised her comlink to her lips. "Ivanova to Enterprise. I'm ready!" She then shut her eyes closed in anticipation. She immediately felt a momentary soft tingling. When the tingle was completely gone, she opened her eyes to find herself in the transporter room of Captain Kirk's starship.
Captain Spock was there to escort her to the bridge. Ivanova nodded once more at him as she went to walk beside him. There was no need for words. They knew the reason for her presence. She was to be the EarthForce liaison for the Federation starship during the Borg crisis. Too bad the First Ones, especially the Walkers of Sigma 957, wouldn't help. She knew that by now, the Federation Ambassador Miranda Jones would be petitioning Ambassador Kosh for help.
Soon enough, the turbolift they were riding in halted at the bridge. The starship had already impressed her with its bright clean lines, and machines that spoke of fantastic complex technologies that resulted from the cooperation of many diverse species. The doors of the turbolift parted to reveal the impossibly spacious bridge. That odd technomage was standing by the command chair, studying the Russian woman. Ivanova eagerly drank in the sight and looked at each crewmember. Her eyes stopped at a crewman at what must be the ship's helms. The Federationers have been infiltrated already! Her eyes bulged and her mouth dropped open in shock. The crewman merely stared back blankly. She immediately slammed all barriers down around her mind.
"Bester…?"
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Ambassador Miranda Jones adjusted her gown and sensor net, then made sure her breather mask was firmly on her face. She pressed the doorchime as the gas mist swirled around her in the corridor.
The door slid open. Miranda entered and her jeweled sensor net registered the presence of Ambassador Kosh and Lyta Alexander. Lyta was studying Miranda with barely disguised distaste. Miranda knew about the Vorlon dislike of her people. She spoke without preamble.
"Ambassador, as you may know, the Borg are invading the Earth Alliance."
Lyta sniffed with disdain. Kosh simply remained as he was, silently.
"Earth in this universe do not have the technological capability to resist the Borg, but it has no choice but try to repel the invaders. Nobody wants to fight a war unless they know there's at least a chance of winning. As one of the older races, the technology of the Vorlon Empire has to be good enough to make the Borg think twice about assimilating the Earthers or anyone else. If we could convince your government to send out a fleet to engage the Borg…."
Windchime-like tones floated out of the Vorlon ambassador's encounter suit. "No."
Lyta moved in front of Kosh protectively and stood up straight with fists at her waist. "Have you done enough damage, Miss Jones? You should have done what Kosh asked you to do long ago. Leave. Now."
Miranda waved dismissively, causing the mist to swirl even more around herself. "We are here. We cannot change that. That argument should stay in the past. We are asking you to help us fix the…'damages' you say we have caused. Do nothing and the Borg will assimilate Earth. After that, the assimilation will, will, spread across Known Space. By then, perhaps not even the Vorlon Empire would be able to resist!"
"Perhaps. It is not our time. It is yours. We are not prepared yet."
Lyta looked at Kosh with surprise. Why was the Vorlon admitting that much to the intruder Miranda?
Miranda's face fell. "You…you wouldn't even help? Not even when your own empire is at risk from the Borg?"
"The infection is your responsibility."
Miranda was getting angry. "I know! Stop throwing that in my face! If you stop being self-righteous and start helping the younger races—" She paused as her sensor net registered Kosh opening his eyepiece and slowly closing it again, menacingly. She was getting to him now.
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A tech in Babylon 5's C&C frowned as he leaned closer to the monitor showing the space station's internal sensors. They were detecting a non-localized energy surge.
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Miranda took a deep breath, ignoring Lyta's sharp intake of breath. She also sensed a gathering of…power in the Vorlon ambassador. "Ambassador, lives are at stake here! Innocent lives! Billions of them! Do they all matter so little to you? I don't believe that! We know about the last great war a thousand years ago. We know that the Vorlon Empire cared enough to help the younger worlds of that time even if some of them are dead now. Like Vulcan in this universe. Only hundreds, if not thousands, survived out of a population of billions! Only…this time, if the Borg succeed, worlds won't die. Instead, entire worlds will serve the Borg! Billions will be drones seeking to assimilate yet more worlds! Not even Minbar would be safe. It would only be a matter of time before their might is turned against the Vorlon Empire itself!"
Kosh remained standing, silently, his eyepiece still narrowed at Miranda.
"Is that what you want, Kosh? Death from inactivity…. Oh well, we might do better with the Shadows helping us!"
Kosh's eyepiece began to glow. Lyta widened her eyes at that and hissed at Miranda for mentioning the Shadows. She gingerly stepped back away from between Kosh and the Federation ambassador.
"Yes…. We know about the Shadows. We don't like what we know of them, but they still pay a hell lot more attention to the younger races than you have! All you have done is stand there and look cryptic. Perhaps they will handle the Borg much better than you. When they do, they will earn the respect of all the races for having saved them!"
"Incorrect!"The Vorlon eyepiece glowed even more brightly for a moment and an invisible force pushed Miranda Jones backward into a wall. As she shakily picked herself up from the floor, Kosh spoke once more.
"Leave. Now!"Miranda ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her face. "I see that you are as dense as that encounter suit of yours. Do not come crying to us when the Borg starts sending cubes into your space. Good day, Ambassador!"
The Federation ambassador primly picked at her jeweled gown, lifted her nose up in the misty air and left Kosh's quarters, her expression of disdain spoiled only by the breather mask.
Lyta Alexander could not believe it. Kosh actually got mad! Not that the interloper deserved it, but seeing a primitive being angering a Vorlon—! In addition to her talk of Shadows, it was tantamount to an unvoiced declaration of war! She turned to look at Kosh with concern. She got another surprise.
Ambassador Kosh was slowly turning away, letting his head hang. Kosh was…feeling ashamed!
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"Bester…?"
Pavel Chekov was looking puzzled. "I'm…sorry?"
Ivanova's face darkened with anger and suspicion. "Do NOT give me that fake Russian accent! It's an insult to Mother Russia!"
It was Chekov's turn to appear insulted. "And you, madam, are not a real Russian if you cannot recognize a fellow Russian! I am not this Bester you speak of. I am Pavel Andreievich Chekov, rank: Commander, serial number: 656-5827B. A pure-blooded Slav born in Taganrog, Russia! Can you say the same thing for Mother Russia?"
Ivanova was taken aback. He seemed to be telling the truth, even if he was a dead ringer for Bester. Now that she could look again, this Chekov did seem slightly younger than Bester and seemed to have a flatter forehead than the PsiCop. It was that parallel universe crap again. It was so unnerving. She finally relaxed a bit and nodded at him. "Susan Ivanova, daughter of Andrei and Sofie Ivanov, born in St. Petersburg, in the Russian Consortium. I…I thought you would be singing the song of 'The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father.'"
Chekov frowned. "The Corps?"
Now thoroughly embarrassed of her knee-jerk reaction, Ivanova said, "Um yes. Your counterpart in this universe is Alfred Bester. He is a…a PsiCop. A hound dog for the PsiCorps."
Eyebrows rising, Chekov looked at Ivanova sideway. "My…counterpart is…a telepath?"
"Yes. A powerful one. P12. Trust me when I say do not cross paths with that man. He will dissect you. With telepathy or some other way, he will dissect you."
Chekov shook his head. He wasn't sure what he was feeling now. A chill like someone walked on his grave. A soft horror. A morbid fascination. Perhaps this was how Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura felt when they found out about their counterparts in the Terran Empire mirror universe.
Galen studied it all with his own fascination. It would be interesting to him if Chekov and Bester met in person. The spell was broken when the turbolift doors opened again, admitting Captain Kirk to the bridge.
"I have just been informed that all jumpgates in the Earth Alliance are closed to all vessels except Earth ships. That includes the Babylon 5 Jumpgate. So, Scotty, I want you to get as much as you can from the warp core."
Scotty nodded. "Ye can count on us, sir!"
Kirk turned to the technomage.
"Ok, Mr. Galen. You said there is something at Earth that could stop the Borg. What is it?"
The technomage held forth his staff as he looked at each person on the bridge. "Eons ago, even before the First Ones walked openly among the stars and built vast beautiful and terrible empires, there was one species. We do not know what they called themselves. Only that we know them as the First of the First Ones. Sometimes they are called simply the Ancients, even by other First Ones. I understand that in your universe, Captain Kirk, they are called the Preservers."
The crewmembers were surprised at that.
"Yes. The Preservers. Or the Progenitors. No matter the names, they were the first to achieve sentience and the first to travel the universe. Very little remains from their ancient civilization. An obelisk there, a piece of technology here. My ship is partly derived from their technology found by traveling technomages. Bits, fragments of fragments, really, remain of their history. Jihads. A great empire spanning three whole galaxies or more. A GodEmperor. Stories of prescient witches. Messiahs. Foldspace, the ability to go from one point in the universe to any other point without moving at all in no time at all. Their power was beyond even us technomages, perhaps even beyond the First Ones themselves. They use the minds of Navigators to fold space rather than machines. Starships big enough to hold all the fleets in Known Space inside themselves. The Spacing Guild."
Ivanova started and chuckled nervously and incredulously. "Wait. They had a guild devoted to executions? To space people?"
Galen haughtily looked at Ivanova. "We do not know precisely. It is more likely it was an organization that helped handle interstellar travel and commerce for that civilization. Their last generations acted as shepherds for the ancestors of the current First Ones. We do not precisely know why, but eventually their civilization faded before dying out. There were indications in several of their outposts of a widespread plague. But we think they had evolved to the point where they had Ascended en masse. Only one clear sentence has come down to us from the Ancients: 'The Spice must flow.'" The technomage shrugged. "Only they could know what that exactly means."
Dr. McCoy held up a hand. "All that is very interesting, I'm sure. But what the hell does it have to do with us? We found one of their obelisks ourselves and all it did was protect a planet from a damned asteroid, and only if there was someone there to push the button!"
A smile appeared to be trying to tug at Galen's lips, but it failed. "As I said, there were several outposts remaining, scattered far from each other throughout the galaxy. One of them is on Earth."
Ivanova was startled. "Earth! Then why haven't we learned of it?"
"But you do. You even have legends of it. Atlantis."
Kirk looked incredulous. "Atlantis? Ok, presuming all this is true, what can this outpost do for us?"
"Each outpost is outfitted with advanced weaponry for defense, enough to defeat a fleet of Shadow ships. Even then, the Ancients knew they should protect themselves especially with Shadows prowling in space where once their empire ruled. If this particular outpost is fitted out as it was supposed to be, it may not too difficult for its defenses to vanquish the Borg."
"This is great!" said Kirk gleefully. Perhaps for once, the universe was turning in his favor. "Where exactly is it?"
"The Ancient outpost on Earth is hidden in the ice of Antarctica. The Vorlons once used the outpost to hide and implant telepathy into humanity. It is now our turn to use the outpost."
Ivanova stared silently. The Vorlons introduced telepathy to humanity? She could blame them for her mother, but in reality, it was the humans' own fault that telepathy was so grossly abused.
A beep sounded in Uhura's console. The Kenyan woman listened for a while before relaying what she heard to the people on the bridge. "We have intercepted tachyon messages from EarthDome. EarthForce is sending 73 warships to stop the Borg at Wolf 359."
"Good!" said Kirk. "Good to finally see EarthForce taking things so seriously! Hopefully, that will delay the Borg long enough for us to reach Earth." Kirk excitedly pointed at Ensign Redpath and Chekov. "Plot a course for Earth!"
Chekov reported, "Sir, it will take us through the Wolf 359 System."
"Fine! We can see EarthForce's handiwork before going to Sol. Maximum warp, go!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Ensign Redpath.
The Enterprise maneuvered herself into the plotted course, stretched itself out and vanished into warp.
EAS Midway, in HyperspaceGeneral Abbas 'Abacus' Kossell was speaking to a general on the tachcomm monitor. "The Midway will be there, sir. A bit late, but we'll be there."
The aging General Lefcourt nodded. "We are mobilizing a fleet of 72 warships at Wolf 359…73 when you arrive. That's just for starters. The Centauri are honoring our alliance by sending warships there…." Lefcourt chuckled mirthlessly. "Hell, we're even thinking of asking the Minbari!"
General Abacus nodded and hoped it would be enough to stop the Borg in their tracks. "You realize, General, that the Centauri have tried to stop them with bigger fleets and we must admit that their warships are more advanced than ours."
Lefcourt looked reluctant to admit to that truth. Finally, he nodded. "In less than 24 hours, our armada's going to hit that Borg vessel with everything we have. Either we survive…or they do." Lefcourt sighed heavily. "It's the Minbari War all over again. Perhaps it was a good thing that those extra-universal ships didn't go against us, after all, no matter what the President says."
Abacus nervously watched Lefcourt. He chose to remain silent about Lefcourt's last statement. That could be construed as treason these days, but the aging general was old now. People, when they get old or especially when this close to possible death, no longer cared about caution in life. Abacus himself was still young enough to want a long profitable career in EarthForce.
His executive officer informed General Abacus that they were arriving at the coordinates. He said, "Thanks, Tobias. Jump when ready."
General Lefcourt, having heard that, straightened as much as he could in his command chair and raised a hand to his forehead in the military salute. "Thank you, General. Now we can be…brothers in battle. For the rest of today…we live together…and die together."
As the Midway slipped out of its jumppoint to join its sister Omegas alongside the Hyperions and Novas also making up the fleet at Wolf 359.
Abacus had one last thing to say before signing off and waiting for the Borg to come. He imitated Lefcourt's military salute. "And you, General…are my battle-brother…for today."
USS Excelsior
Janice Rand unconsciously cocked her head to the side as she listened carefully to the sounds coming out of her earpiece. Tachyon communication traffic has increased intensely lately due to the Borg incursion into the Earth Alliance. She turned to look at Captain Sulu standing in the center of the bridge. Sulu was now arguing with a Drazi on the main viewscreen. For a moment, she listened to what Sulu was saying.
"You owe Earth a lot, mister! They helped you in the Dilgar War. When the Minbari went to war against Earth, they came to you for help. You just stood by and did nothing while the Minbari pushed humanity to the brink of extinction! This time, you have a chance to show your gratitude for Earth saving you from the Dilgars!"
"We know this. We want repay debt. Who can command us? Who can we command? Too many drops of bad blood in League."
Sulu was getting more and more frustrated with this kind of stubbornness. He was getting fed up with encountering this with every race he met at Abba IV.
Janice caught something in the subspace bands. She hated to interrupt this kind of heated argument, but she must. "Captain…. Enterprise is going to Earth. She is advising us that EarthForce is mustering a fleet at Wolf 359. We are urged to either assist Enterprise or the fleet at Wolf 359."
Sulu was now looking grim and turned back to the Drazi onscreen. Time was running out now. "Ok! I have had enough of this foolishness. You want someone who have no history of antagonism with any of you? You got it!" He swirled around and jabbed a finger at the Capellan chief of security on his starship. Leonard James Akaar was startled. "Mr. Akaar, I'm hereby promoting you to the field commission of Commodore. Don't argue about Starfleet regulations. Go right now!"
Akaar stared at Sulu as if he had gone insane, while the Drazi onscreen was sputtering protests.
"What are you waiting for, Mister Akaar? For me to push you out the nearest airlock? Go!"
Akaar practically ran to the turbolift, its door opening almost too slowly for him.
Sulu grunted with satisfaction and turned to face the main viewscreen. "If you do not accept his command, I'm going to personally make sure the Centauri conquer your homeworld, Zhabar, itself! Screen off!" As the squawking Drazi was replaced with the view of the beautiful Abbai homeworld and ships of all kinds hovering in orbit above the planet, Sulu gave one more order.
"Mr. Tiffe, once Akaar has transported, take us to Earth on the double! Give us more than maximum warp!"
The Italian man swallowed and said, "Yessir!"
Centauri PrimeLondo Mollari was tired. He had managed to convince the Emperor to hold off striking at Lord Refa till later, to bide his time. Also, he had managed to convince him to give him Refa's tessuro medallion. But now, he must keep up appearances at Court. Cartagia was now giving out a decree from the Imperial Throne.
"Grand Fleet Admiral Dromo, you shall send our ships to help the humans. The invaders had violated our space and they still must pay for their impudence. When anyone violated the Republic, he violates my person! Go and teach the ummm…the Burgers a lesson in Centauri justice!"
Amazing how an assassination attempt had strengthened and straightened the Emperor lately. Nothing like a brush with death to give someone character!
He hoped this kind of Imperial lucidity would last.
Cartagia then waved for a court scribe to come forward. The Emperor appeared to be thinking, trying to come up with a new decree to give out for the Centauri Republic to follow. Then Fate chose this moment to give Lord Dugari a coughing fit. Again.
Cartagia's sharp eyes flashed to the coughing lord, and the Royal Court froze, including Dugari who was now muffling his coughs into a handkerchief. Even Minister Virini stopped making foolish eye and hand movements.
Cartagia tapped his lips with a finger, thinking and narrowing his eyes at Dugari. He imperiously pointed the finger at the Royal Guardsmen at the grand entrance. "Bring us the test model!"
The Guards bowed and left the throne room. Shortly after, they brought in a wooden structure on a low, wheeled platform. The entire Court studied the structure, puzzlement filling every face in the chamber. It was tall, its top nearly grazing the top of the grand doors and the bottom tip of the chandeliers. A bench was attached to the back of the structure, two wooden beams supported a wide wooden board at the top. Between the beams and stuck under the board was a wide blade, its bottom edge slanted diagonally. From the way the light played on the edge, it was extremely sharp. At where the bench was attached to the structure, two boards were held together, through which was an open circle.
The study by the Court became uneasy as theories about its purpose popped into minds.
Cartagia proudly gestured at the apparatus. "In our studies of the history of our friends on Earth, the humans sometimes seem very Centauri. The humans invented this in the midst of one of their boring repetitive turmoils. In that turmoil, too many people needed to die that the headmen of the time were getting too overworked, too clumsy, too slow. They needed a machine of death that would be…quick, painless, merciful and yet swift in justice. Very Centauri, isn't it? Thousands lost their heads in the device. The humans even used this to execute a king and a queen!" Cartagia then gave a hard look at the whole Court, including Refa and Londo who was now feeling Vir's weakness in himself. "Too bad the humans stopped using it long before our First Contact with them. Otherwise, we would have immediately adopted it into our justice system! It is called…a guillotine!"
The Court still silently stared at the device uneasily.
Cartagia clapped his hands and pointed at Lord Dugari. As the Royal Guards grabbed him, the Emperor said, "It is time for us to test it for ourselves! In my studies, I came across an…amusing joke concerning the guillotine. The humans once said it was the ideal cure for a cold. We shall test even that joke!" The Emperor laughed and the Court followed with a half-hearted, weak chuckle.
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Londo tiredly entered his suite in the Palace. His wife, Lady Timov was there to receive him. She primly pursed her lips.
"You think you can take care of the Emperor better than Refa?"
Londo waved her off and went to another room of the suite. He had regretted not giving in to the momentary temptation of letting Na'toth kill Cartagia when the Emperor turned from the 'test' and said, "Ah! Looks like I have cured Dugari's impossible coughing sickness!" Then he laughed. Laughed! The Emperor had laughed while Dugari's head was still warm and bleeding in the basket below that ghastly, although admittedly very Centauri, human device.
Insane!
Timov followed Londo. "Looks like your schemes about Refa weren't necessary after all. The Borg are attacking the Earthers. Serve the humans right for inventing such a ghastly machine! How in the underworld did you think you'd save Centauri Prime? By now, we'd be dead or worse! Come to think of it, Cartagia can make life worse than with us Borgified! Well done! Oh, very well done, Londo!"
Londo wearily looked at his wife from under heavy eyebrows. "Timov?"
She sighed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "What, Londo?"
"Shut up."
Wolf 359General Abacus hated waiting. This was the worst part of any battle…the waiting. The anxious waiting with eyes searching the heavens for that opening jumppoint that would signal the arrival of an enemy ship or fleet. Only this time, the Borg wouldn't be using jumpengines. They used some type of distortion drive that allowed them to move faster than light through normal space without the dangers of time dilation. The best analysts of EarthForce had determined the possible path taken by the Borg. Normally, with jump tech, this was not possible and an educated guess depended on how often the enemy struck targets before reaching you. The Borg, so far, had kept to a straight line from Centauri space through the Sh'lassien System. Wolf 359 was the last system for the Borg to cross before reaching Sol itself. The EarthForce armada was supposed to be situated where the Borg couldn't help but stop before ramming through the warships at superluminal speeds.
Abacus winced at the thought. He hoped the Borg didn't choose to actually do that!
Suddenly, jumppoints tore open to the side of the fleet.
"What the fuck? I thought they don't have jump tech!"
The scanner operator let out a surprised yelp. "No, General! It's not the Borg…. It's the Minbari! I'm counting…twenty! Twenty Sharlin-class warcruisers."
Abacus ordered, "Open tachlink to General Lefcourt! I want to hear what he's saying before we shoot and start another war with them!"
The crew waited anxiously. Then they saw the Minbari warcruisers move slowly to join the fleet. A female officer quietly said, "Amida Buddha! They're only here to help us! Maybe we'll win this after all!"
The scanner operator called out his readings. "Confirmed. The warcruisers are taking up positions within the fleet and launching fighters. Gunports are open, but minimal energy, repeat minimal energy!"
Abacus almost slumped in his chair with relief. Aliens may be filthy for Earth and be expected to take advantage of this situation, but this was a miracle. He sent up his immensely grateful thanks to Heaven. He immediately straightened again as Lefcourt came back on the tachcomm monitor. "Hey, General! Glad you've decided to ask the Minbari."
"It wasn't us. Seems their government has decided it would be a mistake to let the Borg kill us."Abacus grinned mischievously. "Not that I'm not thankful—I am! I wonder what EarthGov will say about aliens helping us so generously?"
Lefcourt almost chuckled. "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth."
The scanner officer shouted once more. "Sir! Jumppoints opening!"
General Abacus' jaw went slack as he watched ships slip out of the jumppoints. This time, they were ships from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. He looked at the scanner operator who then named each race who sent the ships. "I'm reading…twelve Drazi sunhawks, one Hyach capital ship with six gunboats, three Markab cruisers, nine Yolu battlecruisers, one Ipsha battleglobe, ten Vree Xill-class saucers, six Brakiri Avioki-class cruisers, one Narn G'Quon-class cruiser, seven Hurr gunships and two Abbai frigates!"
Abacus stared with wide eyes and exchanged a look with his first officer, Tobias. That was a total of 51 League ships!
"Sir, they're hailing us."
The monitor lit up to show a human, of all things, but a human in a Starfleet uniform with a fringed golden sash. He raised placating hands. "This is Commodore Leonard James Akaar on the Valifee, commanding the fleet for the Interstellar Alliance. We have come to assist. We come in peace and we wish to help you fight the Borg."
Abacus' face screwed with confusion at the image of Akaar. "What in all the hells is the Interstellar Alliance?"
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The fleet had looked impressive at Abba IV. Coming into Wolf 359, they now appeared less so. It was a mix of ships from the now-former League of Non-Aligned Worlds, plus one Narn cruiser hired to represent the Gaim. Nevertheless, Akaar knew that this fleet, improved with Federation technologies given to the Abbai, could sweep aside the larger EarthForce armada. For now, it was the most visible symbol of various races coming together, to cooperate and work together for a common goal, and to help others.
Akaar, standing on the bridge of the Vree Xill-class saucer Valifee, assessed the situation. This expedition was risky and uncertain, but it was necessary. It was necessary to announce the existence of the Interstellar Alliance to all who cared to know, to establish the infant Alliance as a force to be reckoned with, and to show everyone, especially the Earth Alliance humans that aliens can work together in harmony. The Interstellar Alliance, however, was here because of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. The Alliance fleet was here because of Kirk.
Akaar had not wanted to be here. But he had a duty to Starfleet, even if Starfleet didn't exist in this universe. No…. That wasn't right. There is a Starfleet now: the Interstellar Alliance itself. Even if this battle won't be a victory for anyone in Wolf 359, Akaar was proud to take part in this historic battle. He would then be known as the man who showed the banners of the Interstellar Alliance to the whole galaxy. His mother, Regent Eleen, would be proud of him. The thought of his mother saddened him. He was as good as dead to her in this universe. With no High Teer for her to be regent for, the Ten Tribes of Capella IV would fall back to fighting each other, putting forth Teer after Teer for the High Teership.
No matter. This was even more historic than any High Teer could ever achieve on Capella IV.
He glanced at the Gaim soldiers standing at attention, suppressing the instinctive human chill at the sight. These Gaim, unlike their ambassador on Babylon 5, were quite insectoid. Even more insectoidal than the Xindi-Insects. By all accounts, they were the best soldiers in Known Space. When the Narns invaded their homeworld of N'chak'fah, the much more primitive Gaim were able to easily repel the Narn landing troops. So to combat any Borg who might transport over, Akaar had ordered the Gaim to station troops on all ships of the Alliance, except for the Drazi sunhawks. Drazi could do well enough in hand-to-hand combat, as could the Narns on their own sole cruiser in the fleet.
His eyes went to the two Vree in the command center studying the hologram of the fleets in the center of the bridge. "Well, Hachee, Kamahi, I guess we wait."
USS Excelsior
"Sir!" called Kruton Lojur, "Engines are at recommended safety maximum!"
The starship now seemed to thrum, to hum loudly with power. Captain Sulu glared at the Alpha Centaurian. "Recommended safety maximum. There is another maximum above that, isn't there?"
"Uhhh, yes sir, but—"
"Mister Lojur, this ship was designed for the Transwarp Experiment. She can take it. We can't do hyperwarp now, but we must make do. Take us up to that other maximum."
"Yessir."
Wolf 359Jumppoints opened yet again. This time, it was 14 Centauri warships with Vorchans outnumbering the Primuses by far. After a tense moment of the Centauri facing off the Narn and some of the Alliance ships and Akaar working hard to keep his people in line, the Centauri ships took up their own positions within the EarthForce fleet. Now the combined fleets at Wolf 359 numbered 158 ships, not counting the clouds of fighters now creating a defensive screen in front of the allied fleets.
They didn't have long to wait to see if such a large and varied fleet could stop the Borg. Commodore Akaar, Generals Abacus and Lefcourt, and the other leaders among the Minbari and Centauri tensed as they saw the massive Borg cube drop out of warp, taking the breath out of almost everyone. Most did not really believe that realspace FTL technology actually existed, but here it was. The cube approached the fleet, dimly lit by the star of Wolf 359 in the distance. It opened tachyon frequencies with the entire opposing fleet.
All General Abacus could see was the vast interior of the cube, with faint movements here and there to indicate the location of drones within the mechanical honeycomb. Once more, he heard a voice like that of an entire stadium of people speaking as one.
"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. You will disarm all weapons and escort us to Earth. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."
General Abacus shook his head in wonder and said rhetorically, "Are they even capable of being creative with their ultimatums?"
Tobias looked up from his tactical display. "Sir, General Lefcourt has deployed the Georgetown, the Kronos, and the Minerva."
So it begins. Abacus gave his first order of the battle. "This is for the Schwartzkopf and for Earth, people. Move us forward to position alpha. Load all missile tubes. Ready the cannons."
The Midway fired its engines to push itself to its pre-ordained position for the battle, its centrifugal section slowly rotating around the main body of the warship. Starfuries connected to the ship also fired thrusters to keep pace with their mothership.
Finally, General Abacus' warship fired laser and pulse cannons, and missiles at the Borg cube which was grasping at a Minbari warcruiser with a tractor beam. The dark blue beam encountered force shields protecting the warcruiser and began to drain the shields. Meanwhile, weapons from all ships within range slammed into the broad side of the cube, nibbling at its body ferociously. When the shields on the Minbari warcruiser failed, the Borg sent out a cutting beam at it even as green Borg phasers lashed out at other ships milling against it. The cube was completely ignoring the swarming fighters pecking at it.
The cutting beam, which looked like a golden laser with a lightning bolt spiraling around it, drilled deep into the sapphire-blue angelfish-like warcruiser. A large explosion erupted out of the ship's side as a fusion reactor was breached by the cutting beam. Stunned, the warcruiser maneuvered itself away from the cube to regroup, flames roaring out of its gaping hole.
The cube then turned its attention to the Midway, sending out another tractor beam.
The ship shook as the dark blue tractor beam grabbed it. "Reverse thrusters! Break us out of their hold!" Abacus was not about to go down so early in the battle. The ship began to vibrate, setting the teeth of many crewmen to chattering.
"Reverse thrusters at maximum. Sir, we can't break out!"
"Aim at their emitter!"
Four hot red beams shot out of the Midway, triangulating at the Borg tractor beam emitter. Two more ships came to its rescue, one a Drazi sunhawk and the other a Yolu battlecruiser. They fired several rounds at the cube with little success. The Yolu ship then focused its molecular disassociators on the tractor beam emitter, causing a small explosion on the cube. The Midway was then able to free itself from the Borg's hold.
"Full reverse! Maintain fire! Squadron Two to—"
An explosion on the bridge interrupted General Abacus. The world became blinding white for everyone in the bridge.
USS Enterprise
Uhura paled and turned to Captain Kirk. It was an announcement that the starship crew wouldn't like to hear. "Message from Lieutenant—I mean, Commodore Akaar, Captain."
Kirk grimly set his face to radiate confidence for the crew. "Go ahead, Uhura."
"He reports EarthForce has engaged the Borg at Wolf 359."
The people in the bridge grimly set themselves to study their consoles. Ivanova exchanged an uneasy glance with Kirk and Galen as the Federation starship continued at high warp towards Earth.