Second Stage:
Covenant ships scoured the debris field left after the battle with the Borg. They were under orders to locate and secure any useful technology that was still intact.
"Shipmaster, one of our salvage teams reports they have located what could be a data storage device on one of the hulks," an Elite reported. "It is being brought aboard."
"Very well, have the other teams continue their search."
The cargo bay of the Light of Truth was filled with pieces of Borg vessels and drones that had somehow remained intact. Engineers swarmed around everything. The shipmaster seized a passing grind and demanded a report.
"The engineers are working as fast as they can, but most of the technology had been destroyed. Apparently when one of the alien vessels is critically damages all of its vital technology self-destructs."
"What about the data recorder that was just found," he demanded.
"The engineers are examining it now, but it appears to be intact." An engineer hovered over to the Shipmaster, carrying a pad. It handed it to the shipmaster.
"Impressive. This data contains information about their entire race. Their history, their weapons, everything. But everything is encrypted. Have this translated at once!' The shipmaster ordered. The engineer hurried to obey.
On the Borg's side of the wormhole, the Borg were gathering for a counter-attack. The Queen was angry that she had been defeated. She would go in prepared this time. Ten thousand standard and tactical cubes and twenty thousand other vessels would make up the second wave of the Borg's invasion fleet. Also on the front of the armada were fifty Tactical Fusion Cubes. The Covenant would fall to the Borg. It was inevitable.
"Shipmaster, something is coming through the wormhole," an elite reported.
"Show me," the shipmaster demanded. The view screen activated and showed fifty massive vessels, the size of small moons, coming through the wormhole. They moved into an attack formation but did not open fire. A massive diamond shaped vessel exited the wormhole and moved to the center of the formation. Suddenly, the ship was seized by a tractor beam.
"They are hailing us sir," the elite reported.
"Answer them. It may give us enough time to break free." The view screen flickered for a moment, and then resolved into the face of a girl. She smiled.
"I presume I am speaking to the commander of this fleet?" She asked. The shipmaster was stunned.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I am the Borg," she replied. "Now, you will surrender your vessels and escort us to your home world," she ordered. The shipmaster gave a laugh.
"You expect a Covenant warrior to take orders from a human child? Your threats are meaningless."
"If you will not surrender, then prepare to die," she said, then cut the communication. The Borg vessels began firing, disabling dozens of Covenant ships in the opening moments of the battle. The Covenant responded chaotically. Most of their heavy vessels were gone, and the Borg were beginning to beam droned aboard. The Covenant crews put up a valiant struggle, but the Borg had millions of droned to use, and the Covenant were overwhelmed.
Ten droned appeared on the bridge of the Covenant command vessel. The elites opened fire with plasma pistols and needlers, but the Borg had already adapted, so the elites settled for bashing the drones' heads in with their fists. Suddenly three more drones appeared. These had some sort of tube weapons attached to their shoulders. They shot, and pellets shot out and hit the elites. They were paralyzed by a powerful shock, then their skin began to gray, and their veins bulged. The Queen, knowing how powerful the Covenant were in close combat, had devised a new method of assimilation. The Assimilation Gun. It fired pellets containing a powerful shock generator and a huge dose of nana probes.
Ten minute later, the battle was over. All Covenant ships had been assimilated or destroyed, and the new Unicomplex was being constructed, along with dozens of defensive structures. When the Unicomplex was complete, the Borg would go on the offensive. The Covenant would join the Collective. It was inevitable.
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!