Chapter 6: Inquisition Round Two
Seven was lead to the same room Tuvok had been taken to. However instead of strapping her to the excruciator, he motioned for her to sit in a chair that saw in front of a dark wooden desk.
"Tell me, are you a tech priest?" he asked.
"Am I a what?"
"A tech priest of Mars," he replied. "How did the xenos capture you?" Seven had no idea what he was talking about. She had never heard of tech priests.
"They did not capture me, they liberated me from the Collective," she replied. This peaked Malaki's interest.
"What is this Collective? Were you captured by chaos tech priests? If so they may have erased your memories." The last part he said mostly to himself. "If so, I may be able to help you."
"Help me how?" Seven asked. She had no idea what the Inquisitor was talking about, but she decided to play along. She might gain valuable information.
"I could enter your mind and attempt to access the memories that were suppressed."
"That will not be necessary. The nano probes in my brain will correct the damage soon enough." Malaki immediately stiffened and stood up. He had several spies in the Mars Priesthood, one of whom which was a senior aid to the Fabricator General. As a result he knew of almost every new discovery that was made in the Mechanicus. He had heard a rumor of a project under that name, but nothing else. He also knew the Fabricator General had not sanctioned the operation. If he could gain access to the knowledge this woman possessed, it could present an opportunity to curry favor with one of the most powerful men in the Imperium. He could always say the xenos had killed her.
"What is wrong?" Seven asked. The Inquisitor stood up, holding an Inferno Pistol in his hand.
"Lay down on the table," he said, pointing to the Excruciator. Seven complied.
"I believe I will dispense with the pain generation and move directly to the mind probe," he said as he sunk his psychic self into Seven's mind.
Meanwhile, Calgar and Librarian Tigurius had arrived on board Voyager. They were met by Techmarine Maldis in the shuttle bay.
"My Chapter Master," Maldis spoke, going down to one knee.
"Rise," Calgar ordered. "Tell me what you have learned about this ship."
"I believe it would be easier to show you my Lord," he said, beckoning for Marneus to fallow him. He led the Chapter Master and Librarian to Holo Deck One.
"What is this place?" Tigurius asked.
"Computer, activate program Alpha," Maldis ordered. A hologram of Ultramarine appeared.
"What is this?" Calgar asked.
"This entire room appears to be some sort of hologram projector. However, observe," Maldis said as he touched the marine, but his hand did not go through it. "The holograms appear to be as solid as we are, but that is not all. Computer, activate program beta." They were suddenly standing on the Fortress of Hera.
"Amazing!' Calgar said.
"Indeed. This thing is called a holo deck. It uses photons and force fields to create completely realistic environments. Also, the holograms can be lethal."
"How?"
"When the safety programs are engaged, the holograms dissipate before they can inflict damage. However, when they are not engaged, blasts from weapons and other objects can kill."
"Very interesting. I will expect a full report on this later. Now, show me what you have discovered about their tactical systems." Maldis led Calgar and Tigurius to the bridge.
"We have discovered that their shields are very weak compared to our own Void Shields. However it enables them to survive in many environments our own shields do not. From what we have taken from their database so far we have discovered all their vessels use two types of weapons. The first is a continuos firing energy projection weapon called a Phaser. Its damage rate is minimal, but it can fire for a prolonged period of time. The second weapon is a projectile weapon called a Photon Torpedo. It is similar to our torpedoes except it used antimatter as its warhead, making it much more powerful."
"Could we adapt these weapons for use on Imperial vessels?" Tigurius asked.
"The Phaser technology could be adapted to run of our ships' power and they could take the place of heavy point defense weapons. The Photon Torpedoes will be simple to integrate once the tech priests discover how to store and obtain the antimatter. We will be able to deduce their size to just over a meter long. Our capital ships will be able to mount them easily. Their vessels can only take at most a dozen direct hits to critical areas from these weapons before being destroyed. Our bombers will be able to carry them in place of standard missiles, and capital vessels will be able to mount dozens of launchers without losing more than five percent of their standard weaponry."
"I am very pleased," Calgar said. "Show me what else you have found."
On the surface, Inquisitor Malaki had searched through Seven's mind and discovered that she was once a Borg drone, and that she had knowledge far more valuable than he had imagined. She had never known of the tech priests, but had been part of something similar to them. He accessed the memories she had from the collective.
"Astounding," he said to her spirit self. "You have information on thousands of species, including the humans. I am especially interested in your nano probes. So they can assimilate anything they come into contact with and regenerate dead tissue," he said as he read through her memories. He read about the time they had used nano probes to fight off Species 8472. "These aliens may pose a threat to the Imperium, if it weren't for your help," he said as he browsed through the folder that described how to program the nano probes.
"You may know about the nano probes but you have no way to obtain a sufficient amount," she retorted.
"Perhaps not," Malaki responded. "With the threats of your Borg Collective and Species 8472 I have cause to recommend the High Lords to launch a crusade against your realm."
"You would not prevail against the Borg," she said. "They occupy thousands of systems and posses millions of vessels."
"They will not stand against the overwhelming military might of the Imperium of Mankind," Malaki said. "The Imperium occupies over a million worlds, and we can marshal fleets vaster than you can imagine," he replied as he had a servitor take her back to cell. He called over a recording servitor. He slipped into a trance and began dictating the knowledge he'd gained. The servitor diligently copied it all down on a data chip.
Back in the dungeon, Defense Auxilia troopers entered and confiscated the crews' comm. badges.
"Why'd they take 'em?" Paris asked. Tuvok sat up from where he'd been meditating.
"Because the Inquisitor learned of my plan to escape. They hadn't yet discovered our comm. badges functioned as communicators. I had intended to use them to transport the senior staff onto the Delta Flier. Since the Space Marine vessels do not have our warp engines we could get to the rift and get back to our own galaxy."
The doors to the cell opened and a servitor dumped Seven's body on the floor and walked out. Janeway and Paris put her down on a cot. In a few minutes she began to stir.
"Seven, are you all right?" Janeway asked.
"Yes, I am merely tired," she said as she attempted to sit up. She stopped when a firestorm of pain flowed down her back.
"You shouldn't move. You could have injuries."
"Yes. Captain, before I was taken back, the Inquisitor went into my mind."
"He did the same with me," Tuvok said.
"He accessed al the information I retained from my time with the Borg. The Inquisitor mentioned contacting the High Lords. I assume they are the ruling counsel of the empire we are in. He intends to seek permission to launch a 'crusade' against the collective."
"He's gotta be out of his mind," Paris said. "The Borg have millions of ships. Unless these guys have some sort of super weapon they don't have a chance, and even then the Borg'd just assimilate it or adapt to it."
"That shows how little you know about the Imperium," Inquisitor Malaki said as he entered the room. "I have attained permission from my masters to bring you to Terra. There you will meet the most powerful men in this galaxy." Troopers began taken the Voyager crew to Malaki's transport. They would soon see the kind of place they had come to.
In the next chapter Janeway, Tuvok and Seven will learn the history of the Imperium and what it has planed for the Borg.
P.S. Thanks shinbusta for the idea. I used it as best as I could, but the Inquisition can always tell when it's being lied to. Tell me what you think the Imperial crusade fleet should be like. How many ships and troops should I use? Thanks for reviewing.
ENTILZA