USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant.
With the ship on auxiliary power only thanks to the warp core being taken offline, alarms blared throughout the ship while red hued lights illuminated the interior hallways as the Voyager crew were told that the ship was being boarded by unknown hostiles on decks two, five, seven, Eight, and nine. Tuvok then ordered security officers to those particular sections; and those who were not injured answered that call, making their way through turbo lifts and Jefferies tubes. Even those who weren't part of the security contingent in the remaining members of the crew who were not injured made their way to those decks. Personnel carried Type Two phasers as well as phaser rifles to repel the boarders, and moved as fast as possible while others were accompanying the injured to sickbay and the Mess Hall.
"Doctor to bridge," said the holographic Emergency Medical Hologram who was simply called the Doctor, as he began treating the in-coming injured, "Mr. Paris, I need you down here."
"Doctor," Janeway said when she was suddenly contacted by Neelix, the ship's resident Talaxian and Morale officer.
"What is it, Neelix?!" Janeway snapped before shaking her head. The unprovoked attack and the boarding of her ship had placed her on edge, an a part of her knew that snapping at her crew wasn't going to resolve anything. So she repeated the question in a gentler tone of voice.
"We have injured coming into the Mess Hall, Captain," Neelix said as he led one of the crewmen who had a burn on his left arm past several others who were groaning in pain. Those who weren't badly injured were standing by the doors, both inside and outside the Mess Hall to guard the injured. Everyone had the utmost confidence that the boarders could be repelled, but there was the thought in their minds that they may have to evacuate the ship… and they were hopeful it wouldn't come to that, "has there been any communication from the aliens? Would you like me to try and talk with them?"
"They haven't answered any hails, Neelix," said Janeway when there were sudden screams that came over the communication badges, followed by Phaser fire. Janeway turned to Tuvok who was looking at his Tactical screen while Neelix was listening to the screams that echoed from his open comm-badge. Tuvok told Janeway and Neelix that there were running battles all over the ship, and that the aliens were pouring out of the Personnel Carriers. Unknown to the Voyager crew, there were twenty Wraith to a ship with a few human form replicators whose duty was to access the computers and absorb data. The plan was for the Wraith to collect their prisoners, and then bring them to the locations where the ships crashed through the hull… then the crew would be beamed into the Wraith carriers buffers using the culling beam before being brought to the Wraith superhive.
While the injured Tuvok was guiding the Security teams from his station on the bridge after he insisted that he remain at his station, Oberoth himself exited one of the Wraith personnel carriers, and saw computers on the wall whose lights where blinking on and off. He connected to the other rogue Asurans through their data link and smiled at the amount of information that had already been absorbed. He then nodded at the Wraith with him, and told them to continue the culling. However, before he could give off anymore instructions, Oberoth stopped speaking, and then looked out into the red hued hallway while standing among the twisted metallic debris of the room their ship had crashed into.
He sensed Asuran nanites, and he smiled. He then finished giving his instructions to the Wraith, and reminded them of Queen Reola's new orders that no human was to be fed upon until they were taken to the ship.
"Your Queen wants to feed on them first, now go," commander Oberoth as one of the Wraith commanders, wearing their distinctive black jackets, sneered at him before motioning the other Wraith warriors to follow. As the Wraith left the destroyed room, Oberoth walked towards the hallway with his hands behind his back. He was sensing the nanites, and headed towards them with an urgency in his stride; it was something he hadn't thought possible, there were already Replicators in the Milky Way. He followed close behind a few Wraith who were soon fired upon by beams of reddish-orange that struck them in the chest. Oberoth looked on curiously as the group of five humans wearing different coloured uniforms fired the weapons while moving back, trying to avoid the stun blasts from the Wraith weapons.
He looked on with head tilted as the beams pushed the Wraith back, the humans firing from behind some cover. Some of the beams even hit him, but all that happened was his nano-cell form self-repaired, the damage vanished. He then looked up as the humans pressed a few buttons on the weapons they were carrying, and then fired beams that were more intense than the previous ones. He heard the two Wraith's that the beams hit, grunt as they moved forward. However, they were moving slowly while the beam remained steady… it was as if the beam hitting the armour was trying to push them back. It had taken about three seconds of being hit by the steady beam when the Wraith armour started to. The other three humans were continuing to trade fire with the other Wraith when the intense beams went through the armour, and then the chest of the Wraith.
The two Wraith's then fell to the floor dead.
"To all crew," Oberoth heard one of the humans say after pressing a badge on her shirt, "set phasers to kill.. I repeat set phasers to…"
The woman never got to finish the sentence as the other Wraith were soon joined by more of their kind before they focused their fire and took down the five humans. The Wraith then dragged the unconscious humans back to the room they had crashed into, before continuing on their hunt.
Seven of Nine heard the call on her communicator, and raised her phaser to the 'kill' setting before turning around a corner and firing a beam on one of the Wraith she encountered. She looked at the pale skin of the aliens that boarded her ship, her home, and couldn't help but feel a shiver crawl up her spine as she looked at the hollow eyes and sharp teeth of the alien beings. She continued firing at the four aliens while running as she kept ducking and weaving, avoiding their weapon blasts. She ran into a few crewmembers who were shot down, and then changed direction while firing behind her into another hallway. Taking cover within a recess in the wall, Seven used her superior visual acuity and aimed for head shots when the Wraith made their way into the hallway she found herself in.
She killed three Wraith using this method before her position was overwhelmed by two more Wraith. She then ran, nearly getting hit herself, and ran into another hallway. Firing behind her, she continued running when she turned into another hallway, and suddenly stopped upon coming across a balding man in robes. Seven raised the phaser at the man, and ordered him to identify himself.
"My name is Oberoth, child."
Seven tilted her head, and then shook it when she started hearing a buzzing sound. She then heard footsteps behind her, and looked over her shoulder at the Wraith who had just come around the corner. Seven tried to turn her body, but found to her surprise that she couldn't move.
"Leave us," Oberoth said to the Wraith, who growled before nodding their heads and running past them. Seven turned her head to the older man, and demanded to know what was happening. Oberoth smiled as he took a few steps forward while Seven felt the nanoprobes in her body acting strangely. She could feel them moving just beneath her skin, as if they were trying to tear through and envelope her. Then she shuddered as Oberoth placed his hand on her cheek, the former drone demanding to know if he was responsible for her immobility.
"I am controlling the nanites in your body," said Oberoth as he looked into her eyes, "you are amazing… what is your name?"
"Seven of Nine," she replied as her hands were clenched into fists.
"Seven of Nine," repeated Oberoth, "are there more like you? Living beings and technology meshed together?"
"I.. I will not…"
"I have more painful ways to find out what I need," said Oberoth looking into her eyes, "now answer my questions. How were your nanites able to form in this galaxy? You should be able to access the base code functions, and…"
"I don't understand," said Seven, "I…"
"Painful way it is then, and…. Ah… there is the information I need," said Oberoth as he reached out with his hand, and then entered it into Seven's head. The former drone let out a scream when she felt alien nanites entering her body, entering her the Borg technology within her body, overwhelming her nanites, as her memory was being accessed along with her cortical array. She felt her body go warm as she fell on her knees while Oberoth was whispering at her to give him all her knowledge. Seven closed her eyes from the pain and dropped her phaser. Then just as it appeared, the pain vanished. Seven opened her eyes to find herself standing under a blue light from above, with images flowing all around her.
Seven slowly got to her feet, her eyes wide open at what she was seeing when a hand appeared on her shoulder. Turning her body, while jerking her shoulder away, Seven glared at Oberoth who was smiling at her.
"I have accessed the memories that have been locked away in your nanites base code," said Oberoth as he motioned towards the images, "you have no idea of what you are."
"I was a Borg," said Seven as Oberoth turned his head and stared at her, "Captain Janeway freed me from the Collective, and now I am free. Now, I am human."
"Part of you is, yes," agreed Oberoth, "but the other part.. the nanites and the technology within you, is partly from our people. At the fundamental level, your nanites began as one from my race… our race."
"I do not understand," Seven said.
"Here is what you do not know," Oberoth said as he pointed at the images. Seven looked at the image of a blonde haired woman in a black suit, and listened as she spoke.. her voice seemingly familiar as her nanites started to buzz in her ear.
"My brothers and sisters," said the woman with a sneer on her face, "this galaxy is ours. The humans, the Goa'uld, and all the other races will be destroyed until only our kind remains. I will make the first strike on the meeting of the remaining System Lords. And then, I will find the one key to our victory, I will find Daniel Jackson and access the secrets of the Ancients. I will destroy the only weapon that can destroy all of us. And once I do, once that weapon is destroyed, all of you will begin the attack. Everything will be ours, we will consume and replicate throughout the universe after we are done here. Now, prepare yourselves, I will clear the way for our takeover of everything in this galaxy."
"Daniel Jackson? Ancients?" asked Seven as she rubbed the sides of her head. She could feel her nanites were moving about in excitement.
"The Ancients created us, then they betrayed us and took away everything that we are," said Oberoth, "and in time, once we have rebuilt our great empire, we will strike them in their heart. You will join us, Seven of Nine."
Seven screamed in pain as the skin on her left cheek burst open and nanites poured out. She could feel tiny legs walking on her skin, eating it. She shoved the nanites off her face while Oberoth told her that she wouldn't be able to stop him, or the others.
"The truth is within the nanites basecode. Now, see who you really are," said Oberoth. Seven, through pain in her ocular implant, then saw an image of the Milky Way; she felt as if she was in a ship… but it wasn't Voyager. She couldn't describe it while her mind was burning, but she could feel that every part of the ship was connected to the blonde woman somehow through a link… she felt as if she was a literal part of the ship. She looked on as a blue energy wave spread throughout the galaxy… Seven could see the wave heading towards her before dissipating. Seven felt an intense energy surge through the link shared with the others… with the woman in the suit, and then she screamed. Suddenly Seven felt herself breaking apart as she fell towards a planet at the edge of the galaxy. Seven couldn't remember what she had to do, or who she was… she couldn't remember why she was heading towards the planet below as more parts of her broke up.
She remembered raining down on the planet below. She had flashes of memory of a humanoid being looking down at her, she saw the person reaching down towards her. And then there were screams.. she felt herself infecting the humanoid. She felt his pain, and that pain wanted to be sated. She felt herself calling for her family… the others who crashed along with her. Seven felt them joining with her in the humanoid being, with only one command being active.
To replicate.
She felt herself controlling the humanoid with the others. They recreated their energy links to each other, and then took the humanoid they were in to a nearby town. There they spread, and connected more of the humanoids into a single mind. Eventually, they had taken over their entire planet; from farmers, scientists, to accountants and lawyers… they spread like wildfire over the planet.
The nanites were programmed to replicate, and they had completed their objective. The entire population of the entire planet was turned in a day. Seven saw what happened next, the humanoid built ships and spread out into space… eventually the infected grew more and more. Seven saw thousands of star systems conquered, billions of lives being turned into drones with the One mind that was created on the planet controlling everything. Seven shook her head as she witnessed the turning of her parents and herself into drones, she witnessed the first encounter between the Enterprise-D and the Borg, she saw the turning of Captain Picard into Locutus, the battle of Wolf 359, the battle of Sector 001. She saw everything as her nanites released all their information that was once locked away.
"The nanites in your blood contain remnants of code from the original nanites that crashed onto the planet," whispered Oberoth before he stared at the stunned look on Seven's face, who found herself back in the blue lit room, "you and your kind are our descendants. I can see into your mind, you strive for perfection, Seven of Nine… or shall I call you Annika Hansen. We Asurans are perfection… join us.. take us to the Borg and we will bring you to a level of perfection that you have never encountered. Join us, Seven of Nine… join us."
"N…. No," said Seven stepping back from Oberoth, "I.. I am human. I am not Borg. What.. what you have showed me is a trick."
"You cannot fight me, child," said Oberoth, one side of his lips turning upwards, "if you will not tell me where to find the Borg, then I will rip it out of your memory, and forcibly link you to me."
"Get. Out. Of. My. Mind," ordered Seven.
While Seven released a scream as Oberoth injected more nanites into her mind, Ensign Samantha Wildman was carrying her daughter, Naomi away from the fighting with three crew members behind her firing at the Wraith. The three of them were soon taken down while Samantha kept on running towards a Jeffries tube hatch. She stepped into a small recess when she heard sounds of phaser fire from behind the Wraith. She peeked out of the recess and saw the Wraith firing behind them at several officer. A few seconds later, one of them the aliens fell onto the floor dead. She then turned back again, and looked at the Jefferies Tube hatch in front of her. She then looked at her frightened daughter and was about to reassure the frightened girl that everything was going to be alright when the phaser fire stopped. She turned and looked outside into the hallway when she was hit in the chest by a Wraith stunner.
Naomi fell onto the floor after Samantha let her go and then collapsed next to her. The little girl rushed to her unconscious mother before looking up at a monster who was looking down at her. She looked at the black and yellow eyes, and the sharp teeth. She then screamed before pressing the badge on her mother's uniform.
"Captain! Help!" yelled the girl as Janeway looked up at Tuvok, who was trying to get some auxiliary power to the weapons systems, her eyes wide open. With the battle for the ship on-going for the last five minutes, Janeway had wanted to take a team to help defend her ship about three minutes ago, but Chakotay insisted that he be the one to lead. He told Janeway that she was the Captain, and his job was to keep her safe. He took Kim, two tactical and security officers, and Paris with him to Deck Two where he and the others worked with a few crew members to kill some of the Wraith.
They had killed a few of the Wraith for the past three minutes before his team, including Paris and Kim, were knocked down by the Wraith weapons fire. Chakotay then ran back to the Turbolift, and used his command codes to shut all the lifts down so that the Wraith wouldn't be able to find their way to the bridge. While running into another hallway, narrowly avoiding being hit, he informed the Captain through the comm-badge about what he had done. It was a minute later that he heard the scream from Naomi. He pressed his badge again and told the girl that he was on the way, and then asked the Captain to give him her location.
Once he had received her location based on Samantha's comm-badge, Chakotay found a Jeffries tube, and climbed down to Naomi's location.
Even with a quarter of the Wraith who boarded the ship killed, Janeway was now receiving reports that some of the Starfleet officers were shooting each other after having seen ghosts. Not knowing what was going on frustrated her, especially with the injured Tuvok telling her that she was needed to be kept safe, and to trust her officers. He then suggested that if it was true that the Starfleet officers were shooting each other, then they needed to lower the setting of the phasers to stun.
She knew that it was luck that the remaining crew were able to hang on for this long with over half the crew either injured or dead. Soon, there were no communications with anyone on the ship, even though Tuvok told her that some internal sensors, at least the ones still working, showed phaser fire erupting in various other areas while the information in their computer was being copied.
"Reading Borg nanoprobes, Captain," said Tuvok who was shaking as Janeway looked over at his screen.
"How's that possible," asked the Captain.
"I am unsure but… wait, Captain," Tuvok said while Janeway held onto him as he stumbled to the side. She propped the man up, and the both of them looked at the tactical screen, "I'm detecting a spike in subspace radiation.. a type similar to what Ensign Kim detected earlier. Just before we were being attacked."
"Where?" asked Janeway when she looked up and out the view screen at a blue hued breach opening up to the port side of the alien ship.
"Computer" said the Captain when there was a sudden beep. The woman knew that it was most likely that another ship like the one that attacked them could be comning through, and with the aliens stopping themselves from completely destroying the Voyager, she guessed that they wanted the ship for themselves while perhaps keeping the crew as slaves, "initiate self-destruct sequence."
"Self-destruct is unavailable, warp-core is offline," said the disembodied voice as Janeway turned and looked at Tuvok.
"Computer," said Janeway, "initiate secondary self-destruct protocols. Authorization…"
"Captain," said Tuvok when there was another beeped on his tactical station, "the radiation levels are spiking once again."
Tau'ri Vessel Persephone, Bridge.
"Five seconds to window, ma'am," said Major Williams.
"I want all weapon to open fire at the Superhive," ordered Lisa as she leaned forward, "focus all weapons at the hyperdrive. Once we are out, charge the ship-to-ship anti-replicator weapon and then launch all Arrows. Do not wait for my orders."
"Yes, ma'am," said Major Williams who them told all pilots to launch once they were out of hyper-space, "all pilots, fire your drones at the locating of the hyperdrive. I have a feeling that's going to be heavily reinforced."
"Understood," said the leader of each wing of Arrows.
"Three," one of the bridge crew began the countdown, "two, one."
"Raise shields and fire!" yelled Lisa as the Persephone entered real space, raised her shields, and then opened fire at, where scans had earlier shown, the location of the hyperdrive. Arrows were thein immediately launched just as the Superhive began to fire on the slightly smaller ship with its plasma weapons at full power while launching Darts to counter the Arrows.
"Ma'am," said Lt. Kagawa as he turned on his seat and faced Lisa while the Persephone was shaking from the Wraith weapons impact, "we're detecting another ship. Scans of the hull have the name on the saucer section as USS Voyager."
"You're kidding me," yelled Lisa she rushed to the young man's console, nearly stumbling to the young man's seat, while the Persephone was shaking from several hits.
"We're being hailed," said Kagawa as Lisa looked at the screen in front of her on the console. She could clearly see the ship's name, but unlike the Enterprise.. she couldn't read any matter-antimatter reactions coming from the Warp Core.
"Put them through," said Lisa as she tried to remember what she had seen years ago on the crystal-embed set that belonged to her father.
"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, and…"
While the Captain was continuing to speak, thanking the Persephone for her timely intervention, Major Williams told Lisa that he was detecting Huron energy signals from the hull of the Superhive, and from inside Voyager.
"How many?" asked Lisa as the ship shook before she could respond to the Captain.
"Port and Ventral shields at eighty percent," exclaimed another member of the crew.
"Evasive manoeuvres," ordered Lisa, "focus all fire on the Wraith hyperdrive."
"I'm reading eight replicators on Voyager, including ninety one Wraith," said one of the crew.
"Ma'am," said Kagawa as Lisa turned back to look over the young man's shoulder at the screen. Her eyes widened at the scans of the six Wraith transports that were sticking out from various decks, "confirmation that they've definitely got Wraith in there."
"Captain Janeway," said Lisa after ordering Kagawa to connect her to Voyager, "my name is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Tau'ri warship Persephone. We've run a scan on your vessel, I take it that you've been boarded?"
"Yes," answered Janeway while Tuvok's right eye-brow arched upwards upon hearing the word, 'Tau'ri'. Janeway noticed the movement, and was about to ask a question when Lisa contacted her again.
"Captain, in ten seconds we'll have two more ships coming through," she said, "right now, with our shields up, we'll be unable to beam any help over to your ship. Our scans are reading ninety one… no, make that eighty seven intruders remaining. Once those ships are in range, I will have them beam the Wraith out of your ship? These creatures are dangerous."
"Out where?" asked Janeway as she and Tuvok watched the violence outside as both the Persephone and the Wraith ship fired at each other with all their weapons, "Colonel, where do you intend to beam them? Do you have prisons, or…"
"Into space, Captain," said Lisa as the Persephone shook from multiple blasts. Tuvok and the Captain looked at each other, horror written on her face as she imagined the cold voice that advocated the killing of nearly eighty sentient life-forms. However, Janeway also had to weigh the safety of her crew and Voyager itself.. that the ship could fall into the hands of an unknown alien race.
"Is there any way to negotiate with these aliens," said the Captain as she was reconnected to Lisa, "any way to get them to surrender?"
"Your crew have already killed…"
"Yes, to protect my crew and defend this ship," said Janeway, "but if we can stop this invasion before killing anyone else, then that would be preferred. Perhaps…"
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Captain. These aliens are known as the Wraith," said Lisa, "they're a race that only see's humans, or any living thing on two legs that eats and breathes, as food. We're here to stop them. In the meantime, I urge you and your crew to use continue using lethal force against them… they will not be merciful. The first chance they get, they will feed on your life-force."
"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at the scans Voyager for life-signs, "the crew is still alive."
"Colonel Summers," said Janeway, "my Chief of Security has just informed me that the crew are still alive."
"That's even worse, Captain," said Lisa as the Persephone continued to fire, just as two more hyperspace windows opened up and out came the Daedalus and the Odyssey. Once they exited the Hyperspace window, the two ships started to fire all their beam weapons, and railguns at the Wraith ship. In the meantime, Lisa continued to speak to the Captain while the anti-replicator weapon was at eighty percent, "they are going to be stored as food on the Superhive. The Wraith will feed on them later. Your crew is in danger. The Wraith are an existential threat to the galaxy, they will feed on every living being… and that is not me being dramatic. Stand by."
"Marcus!" yelled Lisa as she got to her chair while the ship trembled, "connect me to the Odyssey and Daedelus."
"Connected, ma'am," came the reply.
"Lt. Colonel Singh, Lt. Colonel Lee, this is Colonel Lisa Summers, I need you to drop shields. We'll cover you. I need you to target every single Wraith on Voyager, and beam them out into space."
"Understood," said both of the Daedalus class commanders as both ships came about and headed towards Voyager while the Persephone moved to go in-between the Wraith ship and the Federation vessel. The Persephone continued to fire while the Anti-Replicator weapon was charged up to ninety-percent.
"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at his scanners, "I am detecting energy surges throughout the ship."
"More attacks?"
"The Wraith have been transported off the ship," said Tuvok as Janeway turned her head to the man, "our external sensors and transporters are damaged. I am unable to confirm if there are any life signs among the…"
"There's nothing we could do," whispered the Captain as she looked out at the view-screen. A part of her regretted what just happened but she kept on telling herself that her crew and ship were in danger, the Captain then turned back to Tuvok, "can you transfer auxiliary power to the torpedo bays. Can we fire on the alien vessel?"
"We can," answered Tuvok as he pressed a few buttons when the Doctor told her that the aliens had just breached sick-bay when they vanished in flashes of bright white light. The Captain then told all over her communication badge that the Wraith invasion was over, and then she ordered personnel to report damages and injuries before she turned to the view screen.
"Fire once the Persephone is away," Janeway said looking out the view screen at the Persephone moving off, the massive ship was successful in blocking the firepower from the Superhive so that the Odyssey and the Daedelus could do their jobs, and then return to the battle.
"Captain," said Lisa as the Odyssey moved off and started to fire on the Superhive once again, "Voyager is clear of all Wraith, but you have another enemy of ours on your ship… stand by."
"Understood," the Captain said, "Colonel, we're transferred some power to weapons, we'd like to coordinate a strike on any vital system on the Wraith vessel."
"Understood," said Lisa before ordering Major Williams to send Voyager the coordinates for the hyperdrive.
"We have received coordinates, Captain," said Tuvok.
"Fire," ordered Janeway. Three photon torpedoes fired from the forward bays and impacted the hull of the Wraith ship. The resulting matter-antimatter explosions created weak spots in the armour, which cracked upon getting continuously hit by plasma fire, railgun rounds, and three more photon torpedoes before there was a massive explosion which took out the hyperdrive.
"The ship's, not going anywhere, Captain," said Lisa as Janeway nodded her head, "we have eight more ships coming through to destroy this vessel. Do you require medical aid?"
"I have a little over fifty people injured, Colonel," said Janeway before she asked the question that she knew was on both of her and Tuvok's minds, "but what do you and your people want in exchange? We have never heard of the Tau'ri, are you from a nearby planet?"
"We're just here to help, Captain," said Lisa when she was told that the anti-replicator weapon was ready to fire. Lisa nodded her head before telling the helm on her ship to fire the weapon at just the right angle so that one blast would take care of both the Wraith ship and Voyager, and then she went back to speaking with Janeway, "but I have a feeling that my superiors would like to meet with you."
It was at that moment that the rest of the task force arrived, much to Janeway's surprise, and began blasting the Wraith superhive with all their weapons. Back in the hallway, Naomi's hand was shaking in terror as she held onto the phaser tightly. She stared at the spot where the dead body of the Wraith vanished in white light. The Wraith reached out for her earlier, and the little girl panicked. She took the phaser out of Samantha's holster, not knowing that it was already set to the 'kill' setting, and then pressed down on the firing button and held it down. A few minutes after she killed the Wraith, the body was gone and then an energy wave spread through both ships from the Persephone. The wave destroyed the nanites in the Superhive's hull, and all human form replicators in both ships. However, there was one unintended consequence.
As the wave passed through him, Oberoth was obliterated, as were the Asuran nanites in Seven's blood which were injected by him. In addition, the wave also affected the Borg nanoprobes in her blood stream. She looked at the pile of dust in front of her while panting before she tried to get up to her feet. However, Seven stumbled back down and grabbed her head… there was an intense stinging sensation that went through her entire body as she lay down and screamed once again.
"Naomi!" yelled Chakotay as he approached her location.
The little girl dropped the phaser before getting up and cautiously heading out of the recess, and into the hallway where she saw Chakotay running towards her.
"Chakotay! Mom's hurt!" yelled the little girl as Chakotay kneeled down and made sure that the tearful Naomi wasn't injured before leaning down and checking Samantha's pulse. Sighing in relief, Chakotay told the little girl that her mother was alive.
Back on the bridge, Chakotay informed the Captain that Naomi was safe and sound, and that Samantha was unconscious, but alive. He then told the Captain that he was going to restore the turbo-lifts to operational readiness so that medical teams could get to those who were injured. Janeway acknowledged the message while she and Tuvok watched the nine ships attack the Wraith vessel relentlessly before the Persephone blocked Voyager's view screen.
"Captain," said Tuvok as he looked at his screen while reports came in from all over the ship, "we have an additional twenty crewmen injured, and I regret to inform you that ten more have died in the defence of the ship."
Janeway closed her eyes and nodded her head, she had already lost twenty of her crew in a little of six minutes, with a little over eighty people injured, and more reports were coming in on the damage that was done to their ship. Tuvok told her that there were no signs of the Borg nanoprobes in the ships systems after the energy wave passed through the Wraith ship and Voyager. It was that sentence which make Janeway narrow her eyes before asking Tuvok if sensors managed to identify the energy wave.
Tuvok looked at his scanners, and then shook his head.
"Ca… Captain," said Seven. Janeway could clearly hear that she was in distress before she asked Tuvok to find her location, and then responded with asking if she was alright.
"Pa.. pain," was the reply as Seven's hands started to shake, and her head twitched with the destruction of all her nanoprobes, "I… I…"
Once Tuvok told Janeway the location Seven's signal, the Captain headed for the turbo-lift behind her while telling Seven that she was on the way. She then called the Doctor and ordered her to meet at Seven's location, that Seven sounded as if she was in great pain. She called for the lift just as Tuvok called for her again. Janeway headed to Tuvok's side just as the turbo-lift door opened, and looked out at the view screen only to see the flare of an explosion since the Persephone was blocking their view. Tuvok told Janeway that sensors were reading a massive explosion just as the Persephone's shields flared violently as it was getting hit by debris that would have otherwise hit Voyager, which would have been destroyed with her shields down.
Just as a massive piece of debris, as well as thousands of Wraith floated by in open space, Janeway shook her head and turned around. She stepped into the turbo-lift and told Tuvok that he had the bridge.
Tuvok nodded his head, and looked out at the view screen as the Persephone moved off, only to show the floating debris of the superhive still erupting in explosions while the Tau'ri ships destroyed what remained.
"Summers to Captain Janeway."
"This is Lt. Commander Tuvok."
"Commander," said Lisa, "we're prepared to sent medical personnel to help tend to any injured. In addition, my superior officer would like to have a talk once everything has been settled down."
"I will notify, Captain Janeway, stand-by," said Tuvok before contacting Janeway though her comm.-badge. The woman was already running through a hallway past crewmen and women who were tending to each other. She told Chakotay to head to the Mess Hall where the other injured were being treated as best they could by Voyagers remaining two nurses, the other three were badly injured in the initial strike on the ship. Janeway ordered the medical personnel in the sickbay and Chakotay to tell the medical personnel their procedures while working on the injured. With the doctor running through the hallway, it was left to his assistant to work with the Tau'ri personnel.
Chakotay arrived at the Mess Hall with Naomi in his arms just as Janeway and the Doctor reached Seven who was lying next to a ple of silver dust. Chakotay then told Tuvok to send the Tau'ri shps the coordinates for the Mess Hall and the Sickbay. Chakotay then ordered everyone who was able to take out a phaser, just to be on the safe side, and set it to stun. Just as three flashes of bright white light deposited medical personnel in the Mess Hall and Sickbay, the Doctor took out his medical tricorder and scanned Seven who was struggling to breathe while Janeway held onto her.
"It can't be," said the Doctor as he looked at the readings on his device.
"What?" asked Janeway as Seven started to grit her teeth and convulse violently.
"Ca… Captain," rasped Seven as she grabbed Janeway's arm, fear in her eyes before releasing a scream as the implant on her cheek and over her right eyebrow fel off and hit the floor.
"Doctor!" yelled the Captain as three crewmembers made it to their location.
"Her nanoprobes are all gone," said the Doctor with surprise on his face as he looked up at the equally stunned expression on Captain Janeway, "those nanoprobes maintain her implants and body functions… and I'm already seeing her implants starting to degrade."
"Do you still have those modified nanoprobes we used against Species 8479?"
"No," said the doctor as he continued scanning, his hands shaking as he tried to remain professional, "I.. I'm detecting an odd energy signature around Seven, and… and her cortical nodes are starting to fail.. her heart, kidneys… we need to get her to sickbay. Maybe I could place her in stasis until we get…"
"Tuvok," said Janeway through her comm.-badge, "I need a site-to-site transport to the Sickbay, Seven's badly hurt and…"
"Transporters are still unavailable, Captain," said Tuvok while Chakotay looked over at the injured Neelix who was being taken care of by one of the Persephone's medical staff.
"Her synaptic pathways are degrading," said the doctor with his eyes wide open, "Captain, we need to carry her back to the sickbay."
"I need you two to get whoever you can to the sickbay or Mess Hall," said Janeway as she pointed at the two crewmen, "move!"
"Understood," they replied before moving off. Janeway and the Doctor then were about to carry Seven when Chakotay told them over the comm-badge that a doctor was being sent to their location, accompanied by Neelix. The doctor insisted that they had no time to wait, and it was possible that the aliens who helped them may not know human-Borg physiology.
"These people are human," said Chakotay as Janeway and the Doctor looked at each other while he placed Seven in his arms and then stood up, "I was surprised too."
"Understood," said Janeway as they made their way down the hallway. It would be a few minutes later that the two of them would make contact with Neelix and a middle-aged man in a white coat running towards them when they got out of the turbolift.
"Captain," said Neelix as he ran through the hallway, "this is Dr. Philip Drumm from the Persephone.
"Captain," said the bald, middle-aged, dark skinned man as he rushed towards the unconscious Seven who was in the Doctor's arms. Janeway nodded her head at the man, her mind swimming with so many questions, the first of all being how it was that another group of humans lived in the Delta Quadrant with technology that she was sure that groups like the Borg and the Kazon would be trying to obtain. Pushing those question away for later, she and the Doctor saw the man take out a probe attached to a small tablet. Just like with the medical tricorder's probe, Dr. Drumm hovered the probe over her body while the Doctor insisted that he had already done the same thing and was sure that Dr. Drumm would find the same results.
"Perhaps, Doctor?" said Dr. Drumm before asking for the Doctor's name.
"I'm a hologram, I have no name," said the Doctor, which made Dr. Drumm look up at him in amazement.
"A hologram?" asked Dr. Drumm, "wow… umm… sorry.. back to the patient."
The tablet started to beep before Dr. Drumm looked down at Seven's readings on the tablet, and his eye narrowed in confusion.
"I'm reading implants with a Replicator signature," said Dr. Drum as he looked up from the tablet, to Seven, "she's not a human form Replicator or else she would have been dust. Captain, are you aware that she had implants in her made by Replicators?"
"What are Replicators?" asked the Doctor.
"She's used to be a Borg drone who we…"
"The Borg?" asked Dr. Drumm as Neelix and the others looked at him in confusion.
"You're from the Delta Quadrant and you don't know about the Borg?" asked Janeway confused.
"My superiors can explain, Captain," said Drumm, "the energy wave that we fired was supposed to take out all replicators nanobots and human-from replicators."
"She had Borg nanoprobes that regulated her implants," said the Doctor, "and somehow, that wave affected her and…"
"Doctor, Captain, Neelix, I never heard of the Borg," said Drumm, "but I can tell you that I am detecting a Replicators signature in her implants, and… her pathways are degrading."
"Which is why I was going to place her in stasis," said the doctor, "and why we need to go now."
"How long can she be held in stasis before her synaptic pathways have totally degraded?" asked Drumm as they rushed to the turbolift.
"I can replicate a genetic therapy that'll stabilize her in forty eight hours," said the Doctor as the turbolift doors closed, and the lift moved up to the deck with the sickbay, "we can hold her in stasis for four days."
"Captain," said Drumm as the doors opened again, "let me talk to Colonel Summers. We have stasis pods on board the Persephone that can slow the damage from spreading for several months. We've already begun treating your people, but we cannot help the dead… and this woman will die if you cannot get the genetic therapy done in time."
'Doctor?" asked Janeway as they stepped out of the turbolift as more crew, mostly those who were slightly injured, were helping those who were badly injured to the sickbay.
"If we can slow down the degradation of her mind and body," said the Doctor, "then it'll give me more time to come up with a solution. "
"Do it," said Captain Janeway.
"Dr. Drumm to Colonel Summers."
"This is Summers," said Lisa as she talked with Jon and Lee 'Apollo' Adama who beamed onto the Persephone to discuss their next step while the others continued destroying any trace of the Wraith superhive.
"Ma'am, I have Captain Janeway with me, along with the ship's holographic doctor," said Drumm while Lisa and Jon looked at each other with a grin on their faces, while Apollo was asking them on the significance of that knowledge. Jon told the man that he'll explain the intricacies of 'Star Trek' to him at another time before Drumm told them about Seven, and then asked them if there were any race called the Borg in their database.
"The Borg?" asked Jon and Lisa together.
"The wave was only meant for Replicators," said Jon.
"I know, sir," said Drumm, "but here we are. She's dying, and… well, I'd like permission to place her in stasis on the Persephone."
"Stand by," said Lisa before looking at Jon and then at Lee, "sirs, Starfleet already knows we exist, maybe we could help who I think Dr. Drumm's talking about, and at the same time explain to Captain Janeway and her staff who we really are. It could be a first step in forming diplomatic relations with Earth, and the Federation."
"You're talking about bringing them back to Atlantis?" asked Jon.
"Is that the right thing to do?" asked Apollo.
"Yes. But I don't think we tell them the truth about us, at least not yet," said Jon, "if they're anything like on the shows, then it's better to for them to guage us on what we did to defeat the Goa'uld and the others. Based on that, if the Federation still wants to pursue some kind of diplomatic relationship with the Tau'ri and the Alliance after returning Voyager home, then we could tell them the truth. I'll bring it up with General Rosenberg through a sub-space message."
"Captain Janeway's reaction could be similar to what we get from…"
"Persephone," said Drumm interrupting Lisa as they ran to the sickbay with Seven's implants bursting through her skin; blood and technology falling onto the floor, "we need an answer. The degradation's faster than we thought. The wave did something to her Borg-Replicator implants! No time for the Stasis pods… and… we need to get her to Lantea."
"Getting there will take twelve hours," said Apollo.
"Williams," said Lisa as she looked over her shoulder, "check the database for any Stargates in the immediate vicinity that have been buried."
"Found one," said Major Williams a few seconds later, "the one on P4R-675… it's buried under a mountain."
"Sir?" asked Lisa.
"Do it," said Jon, "I'll contact General Rosenberg; she'll get everything set."
"Captain," said Dr. Drumm just as he received confirmation from Lisa over his ear piece. The Doctor and Janeway were entering Sickbay with Dr. Drumm following close behind when the latter mentioned the best way would be to back-up her memories and then create a cloned body.
"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor as he placed Seven on a bio-bed which had been occupied by B'Ellana who quickly hopped off after she told the Captain that she felt better, and that she was ready to head to engineering to try repair the warp core. The Captain nodded her head while the other crew members were being examined, some of whom earlier had minor injuries which were already healed going back out to their duty assignments.
"Seven?" asked B'Ellana as she and Janeway looked down at the former drone who gritted her teeth as more implants dropped onto the floor, "what's going on?"
"Captain," said Tuvok from the bridge through her comm-badge, "a General Jon O'Neill is requesting permission to come on board. He would like to speak to you, he said it is urgent."
"Do it," said Janeway just before there was a whining sound, followed by a flash of white light. Neelix, Janeway, and B'Ella turned around to see a man in a black and blue uniform with a white coloured triangle, and a circle floating over it, just above his left breast.
"General O'Neill," said Dr. Drumm, "we don't have much time."
"Captain Janeway, I presume?" asked Jon as he tried to hide the need to smile on his face as he turned to the dark haired captain after nodding at Drumm.
"General," said Janeway nodding her head before introducing B'Ellana, and then Neelix.
Jon was glad that the pictures of Klingon's he had seen on the shows were accurate as he looked at the blonde Chief Engineer, and then at Neelix who had a nervous smile on his face. He then glanced behind them at the blond woman in the silver jumpsuit, and then shook his head before turning to the Captain.
"I'm not trying to step on your toes, Captain," said Jon, "we're just here to help you and your people. We can help your friend, but we need to beam her out of here and take her to our base. We have facilities and allies there who would be able to clone her a new body, and…"
"A new human body?" asked Janeway.
"Yes," said Jon before he looked around and saw some of the ones who were badly wounded being tended to by both Voyager and Tau'ri nurses. He told Janeway that he didn't want anyone else to die.. not if they could be saved, "I've talked to my Commanding Officer, and she's asked us to bring you and your ship back to our base as well. From what we know based on our scans, your power is low and your main power-plant is offline. Plus you have hull breaches on a few decks. You're more than welcome to land and conduct repairs at our base while your crew gets some rest. And once you've rested, we'll help you get to Earth."
"How will..." a stunned Janeway was then interrupted by Doctor Drumm telling them they were running out of time.
"I'm just asking for a little trust, Captain," said Jon gently, "if it makes you comfortable, you can send someone with your friend to…"
'Seven," said Janeway as a smile appeared on Jon's face before he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, mentally telling himself to calm down, "her name is Seven."
"Captain, I can go," Neelix said.
"And I am her physician, and…" the Doctor insisted.
"You're needed here, Doctor," said Janeway as she looked over her shoulder, and then turned back to Jon. Janeway wanted to go as well, but she knew that Tuvok was right… she needed to be on the ship… that the crew would be looking to her for reassurance. She couldn't leave them, not now; so she nodded her head at Jon. Once Neelix and Seven were beamed away, Jon took a step towards Janeway before saying that Seven was going to be safe.
"I hope you're right, General," said Janeway before being told by Tuvok that the Persephone had left through a subspace breach.
"Understood," said Janeway while B'Ellana asked Jon where their base was located.
"That's a little bit of a surprise," said Jon, "it'll take us twenty four hours to tow you guys through Hyperspace."
"Hyperspace," repeated Janeway, "is that the area of subspace where we detected the unique radiation?"
"It's a region of subspace that lets us reach our destination faster than any other type of faster than light travel," smiled Jon, "but towing a ship through it uses a lot of energy, so it takes longer. Ordinarily it would take twelve hours. Anyway, once we've reached our base, we can talk about everything."
"Very well," said Janeway before turning towards B'Ellana, "report to Engineering, I want to make sure that we at least have impulse power. And then begin repairs on the warp core."
"To save power," said Jon as he looked at B'Ellana, "you could use our matter-conversion technology to create whatever materials you need."
"Thank you," said B'Ellana before turning back to the Capitan who nodded her head just as Samantha and several others were brought into the sickbay. The Doctor and Dr. Drumm, as well as their nurses, continued to take care of the incoming wounded. B'Ellana then rushed out as Janeway turned to Jon, and sighed.
"Hell of a day?" asked Jon.
"You have no idea, General," said Janeway before they got out of the sickbay, and headed to the bridge while the captain called for Chakotay to meet her there. It was a few minutes later that Jon was shaking hands with Tuvok and Chakotay. In the meantime, the Persephone exited hyperspace two minutes later with Lisa, who had left the bridge to meet her guests in the infirmary, standing next to Neelix. They watched the medical personnel place Seven into life-support as a domed shield appeared over and around her body.
"What are they doing?" whispered Neelix who hadn't been able to really talk to Lisa as he normally would, all thanks to the intense worry that was going through his body.
"They are preparing her for transport, and…"
"Colonel Summers," said Major Williams'' voice through speakers, "we have reached the planet, and the Gate has beamed beamed to Cargo Bay 1."
"Attach the power generator, and then begin dialling. Send the IDC once there is a connection," said Lisa as she motioned at the nurses, who then pushed the floating gurney out of the large room with Lisa and Neelix following closely. They walked up to the end of the hallway while Lisa stopped, and then pressed a screen that contained a schematic of the ship on the wall. She then followed the group into a recess where doors behind them closed, and they were covered in a flash of light. The doors in front of them then opened up and the group rushed down the hallway to Cargo Bay One. Upon reaching the Cargo Bay, Neelix stood with Lisa, the former staring with his mouth dropped at the shimmering blue water-like pool in the middle of a stone ring which had attached to it a glowing green crystal.
"What the…" asked Neelix before losing his voice as Lisa placed a hand on his shoulder gently while asking an officer if they received clearance.
"Yes, ma'am," was the reply, "the shield has been lowered, and our guests have been cleared through."
"Major Williams," said Lisa after tapping her ear piece, "head for Lantea once we have left. You know where to drop off the Stargate."
"Understood," said the Major while Neelix whispered.
"Stargate?"
"Come on," said Lisa as she guided Neelix towards the blue portal, "It's like walking from one room to another."
"But…" said Neelix Just as the nurses pushed Seven's bed through the portal, "hey, wait.."
Neelix ran through the blue shimmer after Seven, only to find himself standing in a large room where several people were checking on Seven while a woman with red hair was walking down a central staircase in a hurry. She was flanked by a smiling woman with dark black hair, cut short to her shoulders, and next to her was a man whose hair was completely white, and had a golden tattoo on his forehead. Surprised, Neelix looked around at the high walls, and then behind him at the portal which disengaged once Lisa had waked through with her hands in her pockets.
"Where… where am I?" asked Neelix as he looked at Lisa, and then turned towards the redhead, "I…."
"Hello," said the redhead, "my name is General Willow Rosenberg, commander of the Tau'ri forces in Pegasus."
"I'm on Pegasus?" asked Neelix as he shook Willow's outstretched hand. It was then that he apologized, saying that he was still surprised by arriving on a planet called Pegasus through a portal on a ship. He then introduced himself before returning to the question of how he got to 'Pegasus'.
"Before we continue," said Willow a smile as she sensed his excitement and fear through her empathic abilities, "let me introduce you to Teal'c, leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, and this is Faith Lehane, leader of one of our off-world teams, SG-1."
"Hello," said Neelix nodding his head.
"As for where you are?" said Faith, "You're on a planet called Lantea, three million light years from the Milky Way."
"Excuse me?" asked a surprised Neelix, "i.. I think I'm hearing things, but did you just say there million light years?"
"You're in the Pegasus galaxy," said Faith.
"On a city known as Atlantis," said Teal'c.
"I…."
"Voyager will be coming here for repairs, and so that the crew can rest before we take them home," said Willow, "but in the meantime, I'm guessing you'd like to be with your friend."
"O… yes… yes, please," Neelix said, unsure of what to think. One thing he knew he needed right now, was to be with someone he already knew… his friend… while he tried to accept the possibility of being in another galaxy after stepping through a blue coloured portal. Willow asked Lisa to take Neelix to Bio-Lab One where Thor and Heimdall were already waiting for them. While Lisa guided the still stunned Neelix through to the lab, Willow released a sigh as Faith placed her hand on the redhead's back.
"It's over," said Willow with a small smile, "the Wraith are finished."
"Indeed," Teal'c replied as Neelix and Lisa turned into a corner, "and now we will be meeting representatives from…"
"Oh yea," said Faith with a smirk on her face, "Voyager? Come on, you gotta know that's going to be cool."
"Bit surprised Neelix has got whiskers," continued Faith before shaking her head and wondering out loud how many things were different in the shows, when compared to real life.
"We'll soon find out," said Willow, "but first, I'll let the Council and Cordy know.. and then I'm going to celebrate this day with Dawn."
"Where is she anyway?"
"Archaeological expedition," said Willow, "with Daniel, Anna, and a few others."
"Would Dawn Summers not want to know of this development with Voyager?" asked Teal'c.
"Oh yeah," replied Willow perking up before a grin appeared on her face, "and she's going to be so pissed that I've made first contact with someone from Voyager."
"That's cruel," chuckled Faith, "you know it's her favourite show."
"And you're jealous that Lisa got to speak with Picard," said Willow looking at Faith, "and she saw the Enterprise."
"Don't rub it in," huffed faith as she crossed her arms over her chest, "and just so you know, Xander was miffed, so was Violet, Rona, and a few of the other Slayers, then you have Jack, Teal'c and…"
"Let's see how this first contact goes," said Willow interrupting her wife while placing her arm around her shoulders, "maybe this could be the start of a friendship between us and the Federation."
"Let us see," said Teal'c while Faith nodded her head.
TBC.