Ricker stood in the Romulon cell, and watched as the forcefield was deactivated and a tall Reman walked in.
"Captain Ricker?" He said extending his hand. Ricker just nodded.
"We offer our sincere apologies for this mistake, we Remans have as you would say staged a palace revolt, with the Romulon empire so distracted by the lure of Atlantis we have seized control of the Empire. Again we offer sincere apologies. Your coordinates have been relied to the Federation ships in orbit, and they will beam you up shortly."
Ricker was about to say something, ask him about the peace treaty when the room dissolved into a wash of light.
Captain Decker materialized in his ready room. Chairs and tables had been overturned and pads lay on the floor, he quickly moved to the lift that took him to the briefing room, but it was offline. Cursing he kicked it, and moved to pull the cover of one of the Jeffries Tubes and crawled inside pulling the torpedo launchers behind him. Soon he was at the entrance to the bridge, as he had expected there was a forcefield just in front of the door, he reached out and tapped his command override into the nearest console, with a stutter the forcefield collapsed, and he hurried through.
Quiche turned razing his phaser as one of the Jeffries Tube hatches opened, he was about to fire when a human hand, came out.
"Quiche. If you pull that trigger I will beat the crap out of you!" Decker said climbing out the tube and onto the bridge.
"Sir, the Sphere has us in some sort of holding beam, we can not brake free." Quiche informed him. "The drones started beaming on board as soon as our shields collapsed, we are holding up in the high security areas like the bridge and sickbay."
"What about weapons?"
"The holding beam is stopping us use weapons and activate the armour, it also appears to be jamming our communications, and we have not been able to contact the team on the Borg ship."
Decker nodded, a plan already formulating, kill two birds with one stone and all that, there was no way out, but it would put a stop to the Atlantian's plans. For good.
"Quiche, is there any way we could get a signal to the team on the Borg ship?"
"Not likely sir. We might be able to from the surface of the sphere, but that would be very risky, we have calculated that there are approximately one hundred Ataltains by now."
"They've taken one hundred crew members?"
"No sir, but information we gleaned from the information gathered at Waypoint and here, shows that they can brake one person down to make several Atlantians, should the need arise."
"Sir." Lt. Crusher said. "Would it be possible to take out the emitters for the holding beams out using hand held weapons from the hull?"
Decker looked at Quiche.
"It might work. With the photon torpedo launchers."
Amy ran through the Borg ship, a drone came up to her, she pushed it aside and carry on running, having no idea where she was going. She tripped and fell crashing to the deck, where she stayed gasping for breath.
"Are you ok Miss?" A strange voice came; she whirled pointing her reclaimed phaser at the drone. "Pleas don't shoot?" it said.
"What? What is going on?" Amy asked the Borg.
"Don't know; we just suddenly came out of the dream."
Amy realized that when the synaptic nodes were destroyed the drones had regained their individuality. "What's your name?"
"My name? Three of. No. It's James. My name is James."
"Well James, I need to contact my ship. Can you help me?"
"I will try. You did this didn't you? You freed us?"
Amy didn't know what to say. In all likely hood yes she had done it, but would it help her to admit it, or would it just do more harm? Finally she decided. "Yes I think I was the one who saved you."
"Then I will gladly help you find your ship."
They moved off down the corridor.
Decker climbed the ladder out onto the hull of the ship, he and three other guards armed with photon torpedo launchers were moving down the port side, Lt. Jamison, lead the other team down the starboard side.
Decker looked up to hundreds of the drones swarming toward the ship. "Oh, good lord. We have company!"
The others looked up, one of them swore, Decker agreed with the sentiment.
"Sir there's the first target." One said pointing with the targeting laser of his weapon.
"Ok, You." Decker gestured to one of the guards. "You cover our backs, and you." He gestured to the other one. "Target that thing and fire at will."
The two of them fired torpedoes into the emitter to no affect. Decker could hear the drones; they weren't going to be held of long.
Suddenly the guard to Decker's right was snatched up by one of the drones, Decker fired the torpedo slammed into the robot and it exploded sending the guard spinning of into space.
"Decker to transporter room two, beam McMorgan back to the ship." There was no response.
"Transporter room two come in!" Decker rolled to avoid one and fired again. But there was no answer. Where was McKenzie?
"Excelsior beam McMorgan back to the ship."
"Eye sir!" A crisp voice came over the com, and Decker watched Mc Morgan dissolve.
"Quiche, it's not working!"
"Understood sir, they must have some sort of shielding, on them, get back to the ship now."
"Ok. Transporter room one, beam all security officers back to the ship."
"Negative sir, we can't get a lock. Not whilst your no the hull"
Decker and the other security officers ran as fast as the EVA suites would allow toward the airlock.
"It appears that your ship has been pulled into the station." James said looking up from his console. "A dampening filed has been erected, that is stopping them use weapons or propulsion."
"Can we help them?" Amy asked.
"I don't know, maybe one if we can contact one of the cubes then it can take out the dampening field." He bent over the console again.
"This is cube 3067." The voce cam over the com.
"Can you destroy the dampening field that holds the federation ship?" Jams asked.
"We will try."
Amy watched on the monitor at the Cube made a pass at the docking bay that held the Excelsior it fired weapons but thy barley made a scratch. It came back for another pass. This time a holding beam caught it. As it was pulled in it opened fire on the emitters of the dampening field.
Decker watched the Borg cube being pulled in, and was astonished, to see it fire on the emitters for the dampening filed and no the tractor beam that was pulling it in.
"Sir all systems back on line." Quiche's voice cam over the com channel.
"Good." The he looked at where he was. "Quiche, arm the Port pulls turret and fire at the drones perusing me."
He dived for cover as the turret rose out of the hull plating and fired a spread of superheated plasma into the crowd of drones. Then he felt the pull of the transporter.
He rematerialized on the bridge.
"Quiche?"
"We have activated the armour, and are repelling the last of the drones that are still on board, but they do not appear to be able to beam through the armour."
Decker nodded sitting down on his command chair. "Can we contact the team on the Borg ship?"
"We should be able to sir." Replied Lt Crusher.
"Open a channel."
"Channel open."
Amy was surprised when her com badge chirped.
"Yes." She responded.
"Amy. What's the status of your team?" Decker's voice came over the channel.
"We were attacked, as far as I know I'm the only one left. We detonated some of the antimatter bombs, and it seems to have caused to collective to collapse."
"You mean they are all dead?"
"No John, far from it. They all seem to have returned to their former selves, they are individuals again."
There was silence on the other end of the channel for a moment.
"What is it John?"
"The Atlantians are intent on rebuilding their civilisation, we have to destroy that station. The only idea we have had so far is to ram the Borg ship into the Dyson Sphere, but both ship and station would be sucked into the Super-suns and destroyed."
"I understand." Amy turned to James. "Did you hear that?"
He nodded. "We would be sacrificing ourselves to save the universe." He gave a sharp bark of laughter. "It seems ironic doesn't it? That the Borg saves the universe."
"But you aren't Borg any more."
"No, I suppose you are right, and it is you we have to thank for that. As a grate man once said. 'As you have given me my life it seems only fair that if I must give my life up it is for you.' It is a good sentiment. Amy, you have given us life, anew. And now we chose to give them back."
He turned back to the console. "It is done, a course is laid in."
"Thank you." She said as the wash of transport faded over her.