A/N: At last, another chapter! And I made it extra long to compensate for my absence :D
Now then. The last few months have been...crazy, to say the least, for all of us. I just hope you've all been keeping as safe as possible, and I hope you will continue to do so. I want you all to stay safe, follow any SANE instructions, listen to the scientists if you aren't sure, and keep social distancing.
Unless you're in New Zealand, in which case, GOOD JOB!
Many thanks to my awesome friends and fellow writers, DrZevil and Kretolus, without whom this story would be less awesome. thanks guys!
Enjoy!
The large squad marched through the corridors, their massed fire ripping through the Borg intruders with ease. When her crew's antiproton weapons were rendered ineffective - which, admittedly, took longer than with most normal Starfleet weapons - Azh charged their lines with her sword, her fear turning to a berserker rage in the face of her nemesis.
Jidzi and her officers, however, suffered no such inconvenience - their kinetic rifles were once an experimental weapon, but now were more than adept at putting down Borg, without the possibility of Borg adaptation.
The progress wasn't entirely problem free, however - the lack of power meant travel between decks was limited to Jefferies tubes, and the low visibility mean they moved slowly...when they moved at all. On more than one occasion, they were halted when Azhasca broke down in tears, vivid memories of her past haunting her, and only gentle coaxing from Elliot could get her back on her feet.
But back on her feet she got, and despite these problems, they made it to Engineering.
They rounded the final corner, weapons readied, only to find another squad from the Relentless holding the door to Engineering, Borg bodies littering the corridor. Their leader, a tall, redheaded human woman, swept the legs out from under one final drone with a long polearm, before driving the blade down into its throat.
"Chief," one of her officers muttered quietly, and the redhead looked up and leaned on her weapon.
"Glad ye made it, Commander," she said to Jidzi in her Irish purr, then looked at Azh. "Suppose you're the cap'n o' this crate, aye?"
Azh nodded, shouldering her sword. "I am. I take it you're here to help me take back Engineering?"
"Aye, I am," the redhead answered, her tone frosty. "See, my girlfriend is commanding one o' the ships that's come to pull your little arse out the fire, so it'd be awful nice if you got this crate goin' and joined the fight."
"O'Dairn, behave," Jidzi warned, "otherwise the 'boss' will hear of this."
"Right ye are, ma'am," O'Dairn answered, although it sounded to Azh like she hadn't paid any attention to the caution at all.
"Alright then," Jidzi said, "What's the situation?"
Before she could answer, a trio of her officers rejoined her group from further down the hall, one of them catching O'Dairn's attention.
"Our six is secure, Chief," he told her, and O'Dairn turned back to Jidzi and Azh's group.
"We've secured this area all the way back to the turbolifts," she told them, gesturing back over shoulder, "an' we estimate a further twenty drones in the engine room. Expect heavier tactical drones though, since this is probably their centre of operation."
"Fine by me," Azh growled, readying her sword again, and O'Dairn kicked her polearm back into a ready position, grinning at the Trill captain.
"Grand," she said cheerfully, "let's go and kick the shite out of 'em."
The rest of the group readied their rifles and formed up behind the officers, and Azh led the charge into the engine room with a scream of rage.
Gunfire whipped past and around her, but she was oblivious to it.
Azh ran into the engine room, sliding abruptly before meeting her first enemy with a devastating rising uppercut. She grabbed the body, using it as a shield as she ran to the next drone. With a snarl of effort she threw the body forwards, knocking down the drone in her path, and without pausing she surged ahead, hacking down two more drones before running on.
"Dammit, Azh!" Elliot called after her, trying to swing his minigun as a club, not risking opening fire so close to the warp core. Jidzi looked up at his shout, noticing that Azh was getting too far ahead of any fire support, and turned to O'Dairn.
Chief! Go help the Captain!" she shouted, and the redhead ran to make sure Azh didn't get herself killed so close to her goal.
Aryju Pekeez, the short-haired Bajoran, was fighting back-to-back with Oysyoe, both of them firing into the Borg advancing on them, before fighting back with their own close combat skills, turning the Borg's own combat tools against them. And all around the engine room, Jidzi's team were firing into open targets as the opportunities arose, precise, disciplined fire punching through Borg heads and chests, until eventually there was little left but a few twitching synthetic components and a lot of organic debris.
"Are we clear?" Azh asked breathlessly, rejoining the group sporting several fresh cuts, but none fatal.
"Yes ma'am, we are," Oysyoe answered, heaving a body from one of the consoles and getting straight to work.
"Elliot, check the warp core, make sure it's not damaged," Azh ordered, and as he ran to comply she turned to Jidzi. "Commander, if you can stay a little longer I'd appreciate some assistance keeping any stragglers from getting in here."
Jidzi nodded, gesturing to a handful of her officers.
"Yes ma'am, we'll watch your back," she told her fellow Trill, before leading her squad out.
Azh straightened up, wincing at something that seemed to have been broken during the fighting, then moved on.
"Oysyoe?"
"I've just rerouted Bridge commands through Engineering, and now I'm venting the clear decks to get rid of as many 'stragglers' as possible."
"Good. Elliot?"
The young man emerged from behind the warp core, his expression hopeful.
"I'm seeing no damage, and the diagnostics have come back green."
"Alright then. Take your stations people, and-"
"Captain?" asked a familiar - and exhausted - voice, and Azh smiled as she turned to face her dearest friend.
"Yes, Commander Lehar?"
"Permission to rejoin the crew?"
Azh laughed, fighting tears of happiness that threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"Permission granted," she managed. "I need someone on Tactical, anyway."
The two shared a moment of laughter, then Bobbi moved to the console Oysyoe indicated for her.
"Alright, what have we got folks?"
"Four other Federation ships - the Relentless, the Lightbringer, the Pendragon, and the Lecter. They're under heavy assault from the Borg, but so far holding their own."
Azh thought for a moment, then nodded to herself.
"Alright. We're a command ship, so we need to be at the centre of the formation. Pekeez, deploy a rally point marker and instruct the others to join us there. Bobbi, bring the weapons and shields back online, and-"
"Uh, ma'am?" Oysyoe interrupted, looking concerned. "Are you sure we should be joining this fight? I mean, we're practically limping, we've still got repairs to make, the engine could be damaged for all we know-"
"Actually, the Borg tech that they've left in the ship has...uh, actually improved a few things," Elliot offered. "More efficient engines, regenerative shields, and even some sort of self-repair protocol that is, even now, making the ship more survivable." He turned to Azh, his eyes dangerous. "We can use their own tech against them, ma'am."
Azh grinned wolfishly.
"Perfect. Pekeez, your orders stand. Oysyoe, monitor the shields and keep them balanced, and divert any spare power from non-essential areas to structural integrity, let's not take any chances. Now, let's get them to form up, shall we? Put the Lecter on point, the Lightbringer and Pendragon on our flanks, and keep the Relentless behind us. Let's show these assholes what happens when they mess with us."
The crew set to work with renewed determination, and the warp core began to hum more rapidly as it started feeding power to restored systems...and slowly, the giant ship began to move, as it deployed a series of small drones that created a rally point - a signal that would appear on Federation sensors, indicating that it was a point to restore shields and re-arm torpedoes. With that deployed, the Phoenix made her own way to the centre of it, and the other four ships began to take up positions around the command vessel.
"Ma'am...we're being hailed by two ships, the Pendragon and the Lecter."
Azh rolled her eyes. It would be those two.
"Alright, put them through."
She moved over to the small station where she could receive visual communications, and waited.
The screen showed two different people in captains chairs: one an older female Andorian, her white hair done up in a French twist, and the other was a bald Tellarite with a big blonde beard.
"About time you got your shit together- wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be the Engineer at Earth Space Dock?" asked Captain Ghev in an irritated voice, that soon became perplexed.
"Clearly she's been made the Chief Engineer of this vessel, Captain Ghev," Captain Tylla Ezeri replied in a superior voice, her posture and demeanor matching her tone. "Where is your Captain?"
"It's a long story, captains, but no," Azh explained. "I am the captain of this ship, but the bridge was destroyed. We don't have a lot of time, so to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Actually, captain, it's more like what can we do for you?" said Ezeri, surprising both Azh and Ghev. Ezeri had a reputation for being a bossy and unyielding kind of Captain, who routinely preferred her own ideas and strategies to others. "Hold on a second!" Ghev butted in before Azh could say anything. "Why should we take orders from a barely promoted engineer? We have seniority and we weren't dock workers last week like her!" "Because this is her mission Captain Ghev." Ezeri said with finality. "We are simply here to give aid where it's needed, not give orders." As Ghev opened his mouth to try and argue further, Ezeri added, "Now shut your mouth or I'll be lodging a formal complaint with Admiral Zevil, who will listen to what I have to say." Taking the matter as finished, Ezeri looked to Azh expectantly.
Azh sighed in relief, thankful that Ezeri was not going to argue with her plan.
"Okay then," she said firmly, "what I need is all of us moving as one - we have a number of support systems that can assist you, so we need you to stay close."
"We can do that captain," Ezeri said before sending a death glare toward the Tellarite. "Right, captain Ghev?" Azh had seen that look before - she wore it most days herself. It was a look that promised terrible, terrible things if the recipient even thought of arguing.
With a heavy sigh, Ghev said, "my ship, including my complement of Peregrine fighters, are at your disposal...dock worker."
"Excellent," Azh answered, ignoring his indignation, "we'll need them harassing the smaller Borg ships while we deal with the cubes. And Captain Ghev?"
Her tone turned ice cold as she glared at the Tellarite.
"I am as much a captain as you are now, and you will show me the respect of my rank. Phoenix, out."
She cut the transmission just as the ship rocked violently, and she steadied herself on the console.
"Captain, time to move!"
"Then get us moving!" Azh shouted back, staggering over to another console that was mirroring the sensors readouts.
Finally, as if all guided by the same hand, all five ships began to move simultaneously, opening fire at the nearest cube, as fighters from the Lecter began their attacks on the smaller Borg vessels.
At long last, it was time to fight back.