The Collective – or rather, the tiny sub-Collective Cube 1427 had formed once cut off from the main Collective – was disappointed, but not surprised, when vessels 0001423, 1949123, and 1976123 did not, in fact, lower their shields and await assimilation.
"W-what is that?" Vessel 0001423 (Designation: Galactica, assimilation priority: 84) stammered, looking at her in fear and bewilderment. "What in the name of the Lords of Kobol…!?"
"Run!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed in a wild panic, her eyes wide. "Everybody, flee in all directions! I'll distract her!"
"You have given up on fighting before the battle has even begun, Enterprise-san?!" Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority assigned to 19 [0 unknown species, 0 unknown cultures, 12 unknown technologies]) focusing her gaze intently a̶c̶q̶u̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶o̶c̶k̶s̶ on Cube 1427.
"Enterprise, as you yourself said before, we're not leaving you behind!" Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority assigned to 7 [51 unknown species, 85 unknown cultures, 38 unknown technologies]) cried.
"I'll catch up later, just GO!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed in near-hysterics. She began firing phaser beams at Cube 1427, in Civilisation 003872's usual manner of defiance. However, the Collective was well familiar with this vessel, and so her shots impacted her shields to little effect.
Cube 1427 continued to advance.
"You're lying!" Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7) immediately shot back. "She's faster than you are, isn't she?!"
"How do you – agh, never mind! Just GO!"
The Collective listened to this conversation, an eye s̶e̶n̶s̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶l̶u̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ intently studying each of them carefully. Not because they were considered threats, but because the Collective wanted to ensure that they were assimilated in the optimal order.
When the Collective had first encountered Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21), it had beamed across a drone to examine the contents of her computer, then taken a core sample of her flesh h̶u̶l̶l̶ with a cutting beam and tractor beam. This allowed the Collective to make an informed decision on whether Vessel 1949123 was worth assimilating.
They had decided it was, and would have succeeded if not for the intervention of Species 0002.
Due to local conditions, Cube 1427's drones could not be removed from their maintenance cycle. This prevented the use of standard tactics, and necessitating that the Collective devise new procedures for assimilation. Due to these rather straining circumstances, Cube 1427 had filled several torpedoes with invasive nanoprobes, to replace the role of drones. Efficiency loss was predicted to be 23.4% in non-resistant ships, higher for the unfortunately likely futile resistance than the Enterprise was likely to display.
"You must remain calm, Enterprise-san!" Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 19), fired.
Despite taking the form of two tri-barrelled turrets (of the kind commonly found on primitive liquid-traversing warships), Vessel 1976123's main weapons fired six positron beams that sailed across the void to smash into Cube 1427's shields. Cube 1427's mouth twitched slightly in a brief hint of a frown, a surge of emotion briefly rising and swiftly crushed. Idly, the Collective began devising how best to render the minor irritant irrelevant.
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 19) cursed. "She is shielded?!"
"In my timeline, almost every ship is!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed.
Energy readings from Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 19) spiked, drawing Cube 1427's attention. The Collective considered her with interest, as the power estimations reached and then exceeded that of a warp core.
Deciding that Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7) could always be assimilated later, the Collective had Cube 1427 fire her first nanoprobe torpedo at Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 19).
"Yamato!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed in warning. However, 1976123 (Designation updated to Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) did not need the warning, dozens of small turrets on her shoulders e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶d̶g̶e̶ opening fire with slivers of ruby light. The nanoprobe torpedo took one hit, two, bursting apart after the third impact from what appeared to be a point-defence plasma shot. (Lasers, of course, would not travel slow enough to be seen with the humanoid eye, and were invisible besides.)
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) fired again, adding her firepower to that of Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21), as well as Vessel 0001423 (Designation: Galactica, assimilation priority: 84) and Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7) as they joined in. With 1949123's phaser beams well understood by the Collective, there was little threat from that area, and Vessel 0001423 and Orbital structure 0011832 did not have the reactor output to be a serious threat to Cube 1427's shielding.
Even as her forward shield integrity dipped down to 56%, Cube 1427 did not feel fear or even concern.
Partially because the thoughts and feelings of 130,000 drones, even in their maintenance cycle, were more than enough to drown out any emotions Cube 1427 herself may or may not have been feeling.
But mostly because her nanoprobes had finished assembling magnetic field generators next to her shield emitters.
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) fired again, positron beams sailing across the void – and narrowed her eyes as the charged particle beams curved from their course to miss Cube 1427 altogether.
"What on Earth?!" Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7) cried, finding her own plasma weaponry diverted from their target as well.
"She's adapting!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed. "It's what they do! It's what they always do! We have to run!"
The Collective fired another two nanoprobe torpedoes, both aiming for Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19). They both manoeuvred to avoid point-defence fire, but one was destroyed anyway and the other veered off from its target, unable to get close through the curtain of fire. Cube 1427 continued moving forward, the Collective judging that she would soon be close enough for the magnetic field she was generating to begin diverting the point-defence fire.
"They are not the only ones who can change tactics, Enterprise-san!" Vessel 1976123 declared hotly, adjusting the aim on her two forward-facing turrets to target the left and right sides of Cube 1427, and firing again. All six beams curved left – but this meant that while three beams passed Cube 1427 by, the other three curved into Cube 1427's main body, impacting with force.
Enough. The Collective boomed.
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) cursed as a Cutting Beam sliced apart her two primary turrets, the metal glowing white hot where the beam passed through. Defiantly, she fired a barrage of missiles and torpedoes, and for a moment, Cube 1427's bulk was hidden by the clouds of leftover gas reactants as the warheads detonated on her shield.
Then, shining through the smoke, was a holographic warning sign that definitely wasn't a pentagram.
The tractor beams latched onto Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19), Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) and Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7). The power drain technology obtained from Species 1743 activated, the power levels of each dropping rapidly.
Vessel 0001423 (Designation: Galactica, assimilation priority: 84) roared, her primitive munitions falling like a rain of lead upon Cube 1427's shields. Said shields were actually damaged enough that there was a non-zero chance of the kinetic rounds penetrating, but even if they broke through they would impact structural-integrity-field reinforced auto-regenerating tritanium. The Collective dismissed her as a threat.
Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) screamed in rage and despair, her shields failing and critical systems beginning to shut down. Orbital structure 0011832 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority: 7) had already lost power to all of her systems, her eyes fluttering shut in unconsciousness.
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19), however, refused to submit – even as thick plumes of smoke bellowed out of the destroyed turrets.
You will be assimilated. The Collective boomed, intensifying the energy drain.
"I refuse!" Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) gasped, her reactor output increasing to deal with the drain. The Collective was intrigued, raising her assimilation priority to 17. 1976123 pulled a third gun from behind her back r̶o̶t̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶u̶r̶r̶e̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶d̶g̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶. The Collective prepared Cube 1427's magnetic field generators, and was suitably surprised when 1976123's turret fired solid artillery rounds instead of the positron beams from before.
The shells had sufficient mass – and therefore inertia – to be avoid being sufficiently diverted by the magnetic field. Each embedded themselves into the pseudo-solid surface of Cube 1427's shields, electrical discharges running over their surfaces as the fields discharged into them. But their simple mechanical timers counted on, and each detonated directly into Cube 1427's shielding.
Shield strength reduced to 6%. The Collective (silently) determined, even as a Cutting Beam destroyed 1976123's last remaining turret.
Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) continued to resist, even though its futility should have been obvious even to such a stubborn species as Species 5618. Currently, she was trying to route power to her hands t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶p̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶w̶, but with the drain in effect it would not gather fast enough to matter.
The battle was resolved. Cube 1427 prepared another four nanoprobe torpedoes for firing, the last shots that would be fired in this combat.
Which was when a stream of molten metal promptly punched through her forward shields and into her palms t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶o̶r̶s̶.
Vessel 1976125 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority set to 9 [4 unknown species, 4 unknown cultures, 17 unknown technologies]), believed to be a derelict by the Collective based on her lack of an energy signature, now revealed herself to be anything but. Eschewing a full-spectrum cloaking device, the tiny ship had evaded the Collective's attention until now with what appeared to be a primitive refrigeration system.
"N-normandy! No… save yourself! Don't let her get you too…!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) managed to choke out t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶m̶i̶t̶, energy beginning to return to her system with the tractor beams gone, but slowly – too slowly to matter.
Vessel 1976125 (Designation updated to Normandy, assimilation priority: 9) immediately took Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21)'s advice and fled using a device that appeared to operate on the principles of an Impulse Drive, but with performance much closer to that of a Warp Drive.
The Collective increased Vessel 1976125 (Designation: Normandy)'s assimilation priority to 7.
The Collective felt d̶e̶t̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ an energy spike from Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19). The Collective turned Cube 1427's attention back to 1976123, watching with interest. 1976123 had used the brief period the Collective was distracted – as was possible with their numbers this low – to charge the capacitor at her her fingertips h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶w̶. Working together faster than the speed of light, Cube 1427's computer and sensors determined the capacitor in question had already reached 70% capacity.
Realising that the Collective had returned its attention to her, Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) ceased charging.
Between 1976123's hands i̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶w̶, untold numbers of microscopic black holes formed, destabilised, and evaporated; the released Hawking Radiation funnelled into a specially prepared outlet and focused forward as a beam. Enough energy to break a planet apart was sent souring though the void to crash into Cube 1427's shields and out the other side.
…
…
…or at least, that's what it would have looked like to an outside observer.
But as the light-echo of Cube 1427 vanished from view, Vessel 1976123 (Designation: Yamato, assimilation priority: 19) suddenly turned her head, no doubt registering another Cube 1427 appearing behind her. Confused by the split-second warp jump that had rendered the superweapon entirely useless.
Cube 1427 moved her hands to her waist and adjusted her jumpsuit. We have adapted. The Collected stated, simply.
"No!" Vessel 1949123 (Designation: Enterprise-D, assimilation priority: 21) cried, fury mixing with terror as tears streaked down her face. "That's not yours… that's my captain's technique! You can't use it! You can't use him!"
Locutus of Borg will be returned to operational status soon enough. The Collective boomed. They did, after all, need a Queen-equivalent. Until then, be silent.
Cube 1427 reached out her hands, close enough now to inject nanoprobes without needing torpedoes.
It became clear at this point, however, that the Collective should have assimilated the "derelicts" first, as the second of the three suddenly opened fire on Cube 1427.
This was, to her shame, not the first time Chimaera wished she'd been built as an Executor-class, but it was the most fervent.
Usually she could quash those feeling by reminding herself that her usual opponents were starfighters and frigates, and that an Imperial I-class was much better equipped to fight those battles than even an Imperial II-class. Star Destroyers were used as a threat to scare populations into compliance at least as often as they were seriously deployed in battle as it was. A single Imperial Star Destroyer was enough to quell rebellion across an entire planet, the so-called Super Star Destroyers were massive overkill.
Right now Chimaera just wished she had more guns and a bigger reactor to fire them faster.
Chimaera fired again and again and again, her heart racing h̶y̶p̶e̶r̶m̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶c̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶x̶i̶m̶u̶m̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶p̶u̶t̶ as she spat ion cannon bolts into the Cube. Sparks raced across the Cube's surface where the bolts impacted, her critically-weakened shields having collapsed in the first volley.
Her Defenders flew in frantic circles around the Cube and adding their own laser cannon shots in areas Chimaera didn't have an angle on, saturating the Cube in fire. It was good that they had been flying around her before this battle – nobody had noticed when they had lined up on her shoulder p̶r̶o̶w̶ and pushed her around so that she had an angle of fire.
She had planned to let the Cube finish off the other ships and then destroy it while it was weakened, but then she had realised that the Cube was firing to disable when it fired at all, and that her talk of 'Assimilation' was a very obtuse way of saying that she was seeking to capture the other ships.
This could not be allowed.
Despite their solid-seeming appearance, the sides of a Cube were not actually smooth a̶ ̶f̶l̶a̶t̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶e̶ – it just looked like that at range because the various fur, scales and spines p̶i̶p̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶d̶u̶c̶t̶s̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶r̶u̶s̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ approximated one. That meant that once her shields were down, incoming fire could sink under the Cube's skin o̶u̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶u̶l̶l̶ and into the muscles i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶o̶n̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ underneath.
"C-Chimaera?" Babylon 5 stammered, sounding tired (which was not surprising, as she was only just starting to recover from a near-total shutdown) and confused. "H-how long have you been…?"
Long enough to know that it's a good thing I played dead upon waking.Chimaera thought to herself. "Surprised that your comrade wasn't able to destroy me?" She demanded aloud. Dammit – I can't feel my engines at all. I had to travel here in microjumps, but in this state I won't even be able to do that! Where are my damn astromechs?! They can't all be in a recharge cycle at once, there aren't enough chargers!
Chimaera fired until the Cube stopped twitching, and then fired another volley, just to be sure.
"What? No, no don't stop!" Enterprise cried, flinging something from her sleeve o̶p̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶r̶p̶e̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ that crashed into the Cube with explosive force, gouging great big creators in her torso h̶u̶l̶l̶. She sounded exhausted, but her eyes were wide with panic. "Please, help me! You can't stop killing them! Not until they're dead!" She launched another volley as she screamed this.
Chimaera raised an eyebrow (though at the same time watching the torpedo volleys with interest – they might well be turned on her next). "Even if some parts of her insides survived my barrage, her outsides didn't. She has no way to threaten us anymore."
"She's Borg!" Enterprise wailed, firing a third barrage. "She'll adapt and regenerate! We have to destroy her! Now!"
"'Regenerate'?" Chimaera's eyebrows rose. "What exactly is that supposed to –"
She had only a second's warning before the torpedo hit her from behind.
At first she thought it was a dud – there was no explosion, just a sudden sharp impact. She could only tell it was a torpedo because of the terrified exclamations from her Defenders. She turned around a̶c̶t̶i̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ –
The Sword-class ship, which had formerly been a mess of melted skin a̶r̶m̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶, now had one torpedo port open. Both the port and the imminently surrounding hull looked like they had come fresh off the assembly line, and… was the area of intact hull expanding?!
Behind her, Enterprise froze, her face somehow managing to go even paler. "The torpedo that Yamato drove off! It didn't fly off into deep space – it switched targets to the Sword class! Those aren't Borg anti-shield torpedoes – she's switched out the warhead with nanoprobes! The Sword-class is being assimilated and regenerated!"
"Nano – wait, are you talking about nano-droids?!" Chimaera asked, incredulously. The Separatists had somehow gotten away with using Buzz droids in the place of explosive warheads, but this was even more stupid. Nano-droids were fragile – it was an unavoidable consequence of being smaller than the smallest of organic cells. Ordinary starlight was enough to break apart their systems and destroy them, so conventional wisdom held that they were only useful for construction and sabotage.
Wait – Chimaera quickly turned her attention back to herself – where she could see the "dud" torpedo payload finish breaking apart into a powder that seemed to be flowing into her injuries c̶o̶m̶p̶r̶o̶m̶i̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶. Uttering a curse, Chimaera grit her teeth and gave an order to her Defenders. They refused at first, but a quick glare reminded them who was in charge. Flying over, the Defenders lined up in front of Chimaera's starboard side, where the torpedo had hit… and opened fire, concussion missiles "sterilising" the wound even as Chimaera fought to avoid grunting in pain.
The eyes of the Sword-class were slowly opening p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶i̶n̶g̶s ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶, and all the other ships could hear her murmur t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶m̶i̶t̶: You… will… be…
"Her torpedoes were filled with a nano-virus?! Wait, please tell me I still have some…" Babylon 5 trailed off as she rummaged around in her pockets q̶u̶i̶c̶k̶l̶y̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶c̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶v̶e̶n̶t̶o̶r̶y̶.
Chimaera wasn't about to let the opportunity of the Sword-class's distraction pass her by, and opened fire with her blaster w̶h̶a̶t̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶p̶o̶n̶r̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶a̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶u̶n̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶… only to see her shots disappear into bursts of light. Naturally, and infuriatingly, the nano-droids had repaired the Sword-class's infernal shields first.
The hairs on the back of Chimaera's neck stood up p̶a̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶n̶s̶o̶r̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶i̶s̶t̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶r̶g̶y̶ ̶s̶p̶i̶k̶e̶, and she glanced at the Cube out of the corner of her eye.
…Enterprise was still continuing her barrage, but she didn't seem to be making any headway into blasting her way through the Cube's superstructure. The Cube was rotating in place, presenting untouched surface to Enterprise's blasting barrage.
As she continued to fire away at the Sword-class, Chimaera narrowed her eyes. She could see the Sword-class's hull undergo the 'regeneration' that Enterprise had mentioned, so for now she'd assume that Enterprise knew what she was talking about. If the Cube had that kind of ability to self-repair… there would be little point fixing her hull while her shields were down. She needed time to recharge her shield projectors, and a way to avoid being shot while doing that.
Chimaera's thoughts turned to her ex-captain, now her admiral. What would Thrawn do, if she (Chimaera) had had that kind of reconstruction ability, when her shields were down? …knowing him, he'd probably–
Chimaera cursed loudly. "She's shedding her skin!"
"She's what?!" Galactica's eyes were wide.
Yamato grunted, her hands trembling as she tried to charge the super-weapon that had laid waste to the Sword-class earlier. But it was too soon – Chimaera could plainly see that her systems needed more time to cool down and recharge. She wasn't going to be able to fire it again in time.
"The Cube has written off the outside parts I slagged, and is using that as armour!" Chimaera started firing her blaster t̶u̶r̶b̶o̶l̶a̶s̶e̶r̶s̶ at the Cube. Normally Chimaera would have no doubt that her guns could destroy a ship of even the Cube's size, but she was far enough away from the Cube that her turbolaser shots lost most of their power to decay. "She's rebuilding her insides into a smaller, functional version of herself!"
A pained roar from behind reminded Chimaera that the Sword-class was becoming more and more of a threat as her repairs continued. Chimaera spared a glance behind her, finding that the area of healed skin r̶e̶p̶a̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶u̶l̶l̶ now covered a third of the Sword-class's area.
"We have to leave." Babylon 5 said.
Chimaera grimaced. Without functional engines, she would have to be left behind.
…so be it. Her self-destruct was still functional. This 'Borg' would learn nothing of the Empire from her.
"No, we can't…!" Enterprise hyperventilated. She seemed to have noticed what Chimaera had, and was now trying to aim for the areas of armour she had already blown holes in, but chunks of the Cube's superstructure were now jettisoning themselves violently to serve as an improvised interception mechanism, detonating the torpedoes well short of their actual target and wasting the explosive energy to space.
"Did Enterprise-san not acknowledge earlier that this Cube could peruse her faster than she could escape?" Yamato noted, teeth clenched.
"Then she'll have to go where the Cube can't follow." Babylon 5 declared.
Four of Babylon 5's fighter-faeries disappeared into her cargo hold, reappearing with… the struts from a space dock?
"Wait, Babylon 5-san, I thought that you did not have the navigation beacons required to survive that realm?"
"If I let you in here, and take my jump gate with me as I use Galactica's drive to get away, then I should be able to let you out fast enough to avoid losing you."
The light of hope (and rational thought) started to appear again in Enterprise's eyes, though her mouth was still twisted in fear. "Alright!" She agreed, wrenching herself away from the Cube. "Let's get out of here!"
To her great surprise, Enterprise flew over not to Babylon 5, but to Chimaera.
Chimaera snarled, seeing quite clearly where this was going. She can no more afford me being captured by the Cube than I can. "I will scuttle myself, thank you very much. I am not some rabid Bantha that needs to be put down by the likes of –"
A holographic warning sign that just-so-happened to resemble a magic circle appeared around both of Enterprise's hands, and two cones of glowing energy latched onto Chimaera. With a jolt, Chimaera found herself moving – a tractor beam?!
"Don't worry, Chimaera!" Enterprise was quite clearly still terrified, but her teeth were clenched and there was a fire in her eyes. "We won't leave you behind!"
For a moment, Chimaera was stunned into complete silence. Then her mouth twisted in disgust. "You naive idiot! Do you really think that GAH." Chimaera's tirade was cut off by a cry of pain.
"Apologies, Chimaera-san, but I was never equipped with tow beams." Yamato had taken up a position on Chimaera's other side, and had fired an actual metal anchor on an actual metal chain into the wounds b̶r̶e̶a̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ from the Sword-class's earlier barrage, shortly before Galactica had knocked her unconscious o̶f̶f̶l̶i̶n̶e̶. With the chain wrapped around Yamato's arm, she pulled the chain taut, adding her engine power to the towing effort.
Chimaera fought to keep her cries of pain at the level of grunting as Yamato's rocket-anchor dug into her wounds. Thinking fast, she switched her blaster to tractor mode a̶c̶t̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶v̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶m̶s̶ and fired at Yamato.
There were two major differences between her tractor beams and Enterprise's, though Chimaera herself only realised the first. The obvious difference was that Enterprise's beams were a glowing cone of energy, while Chimaera's were invisible. But the more important difference is that Chimaera's tractor beams worked both ways – both the tractored and the tractoring ships experienced an equal pull on their hull, which is why they were usually only used by very large ships on very small ships. Otherwise the tractored ship could pull the tractoring ship. By defying that rule and keeping her beams steady, Chimaera was able to replace the pull of the chain of Yamato's rocket-anchor with the much less painful pull from the "ropes" of her tractor beams.
Chimaera looked up to see the "space dock" struts of Babylon 5 light up, and to her disbelieving eyes some kind of glowing portal appear inside of them. "What is that?!" She demanded.
"It's a portal into hyperspace!" Babylon 5 retorted shortly.
"It very much is not!" Chimaera knew hyperspace well, and whatever was through that portal wasn't it. But there were rumours – legends – of an Otherspace that existed on the far side of hyperspace, where space was grey and the stars were black…
Escape is impossible. You will be assimilated.
Chimaera looked behind herself with a grimace. As she had suspected, the outside hull of the Cube had been completely jettisoned now – the innards of the 3000 meter Cube having reformed themselves into a 600 meter Sphere.
She had lost about 26 cubic kilometres of volume, and about 26 years of age – having shrunk from a middle-aged abomination against nature to a 17-year-old abomination against nature. Even given that, Chimaera was reasonably certain that the Sphere still out-massed her, and given that the Sword-class would shortly be fighting on her side…
On the off-chance that it would work, Chimaera fired a full barrage at the Sphere, but her plasma-based turbolasers and her charged particle ion bursts found themselves turned aside by a more concentrated version of the same magnetic defence that had deflected Yamato's positron beams. Enterprise fired one of her beams – to no effect – and the torpedo barrage from Enterprise and Yamato were intercepted by a new weapon: miniature cutting beams. The Sphere had adapted.
"We might not have been able to stop you… but you won't take any more of us!" Enterprise cried. Her and Yamato were making best speed for the portal, but Chimaera's mass was slowing them down…
Your beliefs are irrelevant. Two of you have been assimilated. The rest will now follow.
"Two of…?! Dammit!" Chimaera looked down to see an area of her injured d̶a̶m̶a̶g̶e̶d̶ starboard side rapidly healing r̶e̶p̶a̶i̶r̶i̶n̶g̶. She hadn't gotten all of the nano-droids the first time. "Defenders! Another barrage!"
"Never mind that, dear! Heads up!"
Chimaera looked up again just in time to see a Repair Bot violently shove a crate out of Babylon 5's cargo bay. She had just enough time (and zoom) to catch the name on the side of the create (Excalibur) before Babylon 5's defence grid fired on her own crate. The crate burst apart, metal walls and vacuum seals forcibly releasing their contents of a dark green powder…
"More nano-droids?!" Chimaera watched the powder settle where Babylon 5 had aimed it – at the patch of her skin h̶u̶l̶l̶ infected with the Borg nanoprobes.
"This is how we cured the Drakh plague!" Babylon 5 said, as though Chimaera was supposed to know what that was. "Excalibur's crew reprogrammed another nano-virus to attack the first one!"
"Wait, but, then…" Enterprise glanced behind herself at the Sword-class, but Babylon 5 shook her head.
"Nano-viruses adapt, dear. To make sure your virus wins you need to make sure it grossly outnumbers the enemy virus, and I only had this one crate."
The area of healing skin r̶e̶p̶a̶i̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶u̶l̶l̶ on Chimaera slowed, then stopped.
The Sphere's emotionless expression, just for an instant, twitched. You will be assimilated. She said again, but this time she was looking at Babylon 5.
Chimaera clicked her tongue. She was headed away from the Sphere, and didn't have any rear-facing weaponry…
A pair of missiles shot out from behind Yamato's back o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶s̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶i̶l̶o̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶s̶t̶y̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶m̶o̶k̶e̶s̶t̶a̶c̶k̶ and streaked towards the Sphere. The Sphere prepared to intercept them, only to slowly blink as they detonated on their own about half-way between the two groups. Released from the missiles…
Chimaera blinked. Somehow, the missiles had released some form of raw, uncontained energy that was forming a rough, blue, semitransparent barrier. It was visibly dissipating even as she watched, but two of the Sphere's assimilation torpedoes slammed into it without penetrating.
But the Sphere wasn't giving up.
Holographic sigils were forming around her hands, her mouth moving soundlessly, and energy began to coalesce between them. Having seen Enterprise do something similar earlier, Chimaera had no doubt – the Sphere wasn't going to bother moving around the barrier. She was just going to will it out of her way, like the Jedi of old, then charge straight at them.
Babylon 5 suddenly gasped. "Galactica?!"
Chimaera turned her attention forwards just in time to see the primitive warship fly past, thruster-boots at full burn.
"I WON'T –"
The Sphere pulled her hands apart, releasing the energy contained within. It smashed into the barrier Yamato had put up, dispelling it immediately. Just in time to see Galactica on an intercept course.
"– LET YOU TOUCH THEM!"
How many Jupiter II-class battlestars did it take to stop a Borg Sphere?
One, at sufficient velocity.
Galactica smashed into the Sphere, held back by her shields only for a moment. Even that was catastrophic – Galactica's lower r̶e̶a̶r̶ half squashed itself up against the other half, threatening to tear clean off. All of Yamato's careful repairs were undone in a moment, and worse. Blood a̶i̶r̶ leaked out from her in great big gushes.
But she'd done it.
Even if just for a moment, she'd knocked the Sphere off course.
Chimaera saw no more of the battle, as Enterprise and Yamato had now reached Babylon 5's portal. The three ships (and Chimaera's Defenders) flew through the jump point, which closed the instant they were through. She didn't see waiting Starfuries hurry the jump gate struts into Babylon 5's cargo bay, and the station itself disappear into a flash of light.
She and the other two ships had enough to worry just about surviving in that space, but we'll get to that in a moment.
The Collective did not feel emotion, even as their prey deftly evaded their grasp. Unfortunately, the Collective hadn't needed to trace the use of Transportation Technology 0014 since well before most of the technology that now made up the Sphere had been assimilated. For now, they had escaped assimilation.
The Collective commanded Cube 1427 (temporarily designated Sphere 0837) to re-assimilate their old hull, and return fully to their full strength. Then it turned its attention to Vessel 1976126 (Designation: Unknown, assimilation priority assigned to 19 [0 unknown species, 1 unknown cultures, 8 unknown technologies]) as she finished her assimilation process, shoving Vessel 0001423 (Designation: Galactica, assimilation priority: 84) off to one side.
At full crew strength, Vessel 1976126 would have formed a major faction in the Collective. Given their observed behaviour as it struggled to resist, the Collective was not upset that most of their crew had perished in earlier combat.
The Collective did not ask permission from the Sword-class vessel to rifle though their memories. They did not need permission. They did not ask for permission to analyse and catalogue every form of technology on board. They did not need that, either. They did not ask for permission to disable the ship's pathetic attempt to overload her reactors.
…
The Collective, for a second time, issued the command to power down Vessel 1976126's main reactor. This too was ignored.
The Collective issued the emergency shutdown command for the reactor. It was unheeded.
Explain. The Collective boomed, engulfing the consciousness of the Sword-class ship like the ocean engulfed a fish.
Despite nanoprobes having total control over every computer and control system on Vessel 1976126, and the Collective not allowing 1976126 to speak, her lips moved v̶o̶x̶-̶c̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ anyway. "You may… control… my body… Xeno scum…"
Straining with visible effort, the Sword-class raised her gaze to meet that of Cube 1427. "But you… will never… command… my spirits…"
As the Sword-class's plasma reactor went critical, her last thought was to wonder why she couldn't seem to feel her oldest machine-spirit anywhere…
The Collective watched dispassionately as Vessel 1976126 exploded violently, several large chunks of debris impacting Sphere 0837 and damaging it in ways that would require even more time to regenerate.
The Collective noted that Vessel 1976126's builders were going to be another one of those civilisations.
The stealth systems installed on Normandy weren't capable of operating while at FTL. When she needed to escape from a faster ship – like a Reaper – simply heading off in a straight line to her destination would result in her pursuer simply arriving at her destination first and waiting for her.
Which is why Normandy had headed off at 15 degrees to the rendezvous point (a point between solar systems that had been picked as the destination for Babylon 5's first FTL jump), then turned to face that destination once she'd travelled a light-month. It would add less than an hour to her trip, and she didn't particularly care if the enemy saw her turn a month from now.
With her trip taking over a day, she figured she would find one of two things when she arrived at the rendezvous point. Either there would be nobody there – because they had been destroyed, they had gone somewhere else, or had left without waiting for her, she would likely never know – or everyone would be there (except slowpoke Enterprise), likely having made plans without her.
What she did not expect to find was Babylon 5, alone, unconscious, with signs that her reactors were in emergency shut down and the station running on emergency power. Normandy's sharp eyes d̶e̶t̶a̶i̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶n̶s̶ picked up a hairline fracture in her gut y̶e̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶t̶o̶r̶. At a guess, her first FTL jump hadn't gone according to plan.
But then, Normandy strained her ears p̶a̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶n̶s̶o̶r̶s̶, listening without success for any other ships in the area, where is everyone else?
Chimaera was quite sure what whoever had named this space "hyperspace" had clearly never seen actual hyperspace. Oh, they both had the swirling patterns of light and darkness in what seemed to be gas, but that was about it. Real hyperspace gave one the impression of incredible speed, while this one made one uncertain if they were moving at all.
Also real hyperspace was blue and this one was red.
The moment they had entered "hyperspace", Enterprise suddenly released her tractor beam with a gasp. Her face turned quite green, and she started drifting off from the other two…
Quick as a flash, Yamato fired her second rocket-anchor out and wrapped around Enterprise's waist n̶e̶c̶k̶ with, Chimaera couldn't help but note, far more care than had been used on her. "Enterprise-san, what is wrong?"
"I'm…" Enterprise gasped. "The subspace echoes in here are… urk! My sensors are receiving enormous amounts of feedback…"
"Then turn them off." Chimaera suggested, almost succeeding in keeping the "snide" out of her tone. "I've already switched to optics-only mode."
Her Defenders, equally as uneasy as she was, sought the relative safety of her uniform h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶a̶y̶s̶.
"R-right…" Enterprise said, closing her eyes for a moment and presumably making the required changes. "But without my subspace sensors, I won't be able to use… most of my systems, actually."
"Worry only about life support, Enterprise-san." Yamato suggested. "Babylon 5-san will let us out shortly."
"Y-yeah…" Enterprise said. "…I really hope Galactica's okay…" She added in a small voice.
Chimaera looked down at the taught chain connecting Yamato to her and Enterprise, doing a quick calculation regarding gravitational movement and fluid mechanics… "How are you holding still?"
"Gravity anchors." Yamato replied, as though that was supposed to explain anything. "Do not worry. At worst, I…" She trailed off.
"Yamato?" Enterprise asked, looking worried.
"It is nothing, Enterprise-san. Just some engine trouble." Yamato replied, but she avoided looked either of the other two ships in the eyes.
The corner of Chimaera's mouth twitched. If my engines were repaired, I could try microjumping into actual hyperspace and hoping I came out in realspace, but right now I see our only hope is Babylon 5…
"Who was that cube, anyway?" She demanded of Enterprise, whose expression hardened.
"She's from a group called the Borg, who seek to 'assimilate' all races in the universe through cybernetic implants, nanotechnology, and a galaxy-wide hive mind. I've… encountered them before."
Chimaera's eyes hardened. This was the sort of threat the Empire needed to know about. "So they chased you down as an old opponent?"
"No," Enterprise replied "she was probably there for –" and then she gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth in shock.
"What?" Chimaera demanded.
Enterprise started cursing under her breath. "No no no no no… I'm an idiot! We have to go back!"
"Back?!" Chimaera's eyebrows shot up.
"Enterprise-san, while we acquitted ourselves well, that battle was a resounding defeat for us. And our opponent can repair much faster than we can."
"But that's just it!" Enterprise exclaimed. "The Cube was never there for us!"
The Collective estimated there was sufficient resources in the system to construct a Unimatrix. After gathering the raw materials, Cube 1427 would begin the re-opening process.
Cube 1427 glanced over at r̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ the scar of the dimensional breach that Enterprise and Babylon 5 had closed.
The one that, when open, spewed out ships from across all of existence.
You will be assimilated.