Allies and enemies

Transwarp was fast. It was also a bit of a rough ride. Borg ships adapted to anything that happened around or to them. Lost drones were inconsequential to the Collective as a whole. Ssaak'll was not about to lose any more of his people than he already had, so he did not push his ship as hard as he might have. He was wary as the ship flew. The Borg had learned to leave him and his alone. It had cost them far more than most could dream, but the Collective was nothing if not persistent. They would try to take him and his again and he would argue the point. But for now? The one small probe his sensors detected retreated from his ship's path before he could even arm his weapons. Wise of them.

The transwarp conduit ended and he felt a shudder as his ship returned to real space in what was called the Beta Quadrant by many races-

Surrounded by Federation ships!

Alerts spread across the Collective and his crew moved at the speed of thought, but paused when Ssaak'll issued commands.

"Shields only. Do not power weapons."

None of the crew argued, although he could feel their disdain for the puny Federation designs. All of them seemed to be replicas of the 'Constitution' class made famous by the infamous Captain James T. Kirk. Ssaak'll knew the truth however. No matter what they looked like, these were modern Federation ships with the best available modern tech. Add competent crews and they were not to be taken lightly. They had their shields up and their weapons online, but none fired. If they did, many Federation personnel would die and the Gorn's mission would be delayed. Deaths of people who attacked him, Ssaak'll had no problem with. Delay? Not so much at the moment.

A hail came from one of the Constitutions and Ssaak'll thought for a few milliseconds before accepting it. As he did, he made ready to reply, setting the screen to show only his face. Contrary to many peoples' beliefs, Federation were not weak. Far from it. That said? They got bothered fairly easily and Borg tended to bother lots of people. Let alone how most would react to a Borg-ified Gorn!

The screen resolved into the bridge of a Federation starship. Not an ancient one either, but a modern one with modern tech everywhere. Indeed, the outer hull was either nostalgia or a ruse. Ssaak'll approved of both. The face of the commander was not known to him, but some information was available to his Collective. The name and rank of the commander flashed into his vision next to the name of the ship. USS Organia commanded by someone named Charrah. Huh. That was the ship that had responded to the Denali's distress call. The leader of the task group that had left when the K'Valk's Honor had arrived. Connected somehow? The blue skinned female spoke in Federation Standard.

"Unknown vessel, this is Admiral Y. Charrah, commanding the USS Organia." Her tones were off somehow. As if she wasn't quite speaking right. Odd. Not a lie. No. As if she wasn't as comfortable speaking the language as most would be? It was often hard to speak properly if one did not grow up speaking a language. Ssaak'll knew that. But Standard? Odd for such a human looking being. It was subtle enough that most people would have no idea the oddity was there, but he sensed it. Not his problem, if a bit perplexing. "You have entered Federation space. Please state your intentions."

Ssaak'll thought for seven full seconds about that. He could lie. That might be a bad idea given that Federation always prided themselves on having as much information as was available. Any deception would likely be discovered quickly and taken as an act of aggression. Gorn or Klingon ships would have opened fire by now on seeing a Borg looking vessel. Romulans might fire or might not. They were hard to figure out at times. They could be quite brave or quite cowardly, depending on the situation. But Federation did love to talk. And… Would they remember the truth? Maybe. Captain Piper had promised they would. Had she kept her word?

Ssaak'll checked his settings one final time and then sent his reply. It was less a second after the hail had come in. There were a few good things about being stuck in a Borg style Collective. Not many, but a few. Communication speed was one of those few.

"Admiral Y Charrah. I am Prince Ssaak'll commanding the Xrathis' Honor." The Gorn said calmly. "I mean no harm to your Federation. I come to stop a war." He stopped talking and waited.

"Prince Ssaak'll. You are a Gorn." The other's reply was cool, calm, but there was a layer of tension beneath that cool. "And you are commanding a Borg ship?"

"This Xrathis' Honor is mine. The Borg are more than welcome to try to take it back. That will make seven times they have tried." Ssaak'll did not bother to hide the disdain in his tone. Was that a laugh that came from the com? Not from the Admiral.

"That is- A moment, please." The Admiral said politely and he waited as she looked to the side, clearly listening to someone who was not in the pickup. She was good. He gave her that. He hadn't rattled her. She did not react to whatever she was hearing, the sign of long experience. Well trained, utterly professional. Capable and not raging like many Klingon commanders he had dealt with. When she turned back to the screen and she spoke again, her tone was different. Respectful! "I apologize for the delay, Prince Ssaak'll. Is that how you wish to be addressed?" She inquired.

"That is my name." Ssaak'll snapped a bit harder than he had intended. He took a deep breath and then spoke more evenly. It still hurt, his father calling him that, casting him out for showing honor to his people. With his Collective's aid, he fought his temper back. It would not help and everyone knew it. "Please accept my own apology for rudeness, Admiral. It has been a bad day."

"A bad day for many." The Admiral agreed. "Apology accepted. How may the Federation assist a true son of Gornar?"

The Federation ships all lowered their shields and their weapons were offline now too! He felt shock and sensed it reverberate through his entire tiny Collective. She probably knew all of it that was known to the Federation, good, bad and ugly all mixed. What was more? She seemed like she approved! That was more than he had dared hope for.

"You need to stay out of this, Admiral." Ssaak'll said quietly. She stared at him and he shook his head. "This is going to be a mess. If it is as I fear and the Denali has been subverted by some form of malevolent AI…" That did not surprise the Admiral, Ssaak'll noted with approval. "...then any Federation ship approaching the carrier will be in grave peril. This enemy has proven that they have no respect for life."

"No, they don't." The Admiral said quietly. "For what it is worth, however, the ones who instigated this have been declared rogue." Ssaak'll inclined his head in query and she shook hers. "Starfleet is still figuring out all of the twists and turns, but the Doctor and her staff have been declared criminals and are being pursued by all kinds of authorities, including us. According to their superiors, they are not responding to orders."

"Or they cannot." Ssaak'll said when the Admiral paused. "There are some things that even the Borg refuse to play with."

"Really?" Admiral Charrah seemed honestly curious.

"They learned that lesson the hard way, just like everyone else seems to have to." Ssaak'll said sourly and the Admiral slowly nodded. "After all, no matter the species, they are so much smarter and better than everyone else, they have to be able to do it right. Even if every single instance of making AI in such a way goes utterly, horribly wrong."

"No argument here." Admiral Charrah was, if anything, sad. "What can we do?"

Again, Ssaak'll approved! No dissembling. No mealy mouthed words about 'collateral damage'. This was a soldier. From her age and rank, someone who had served on the front lines of both the Klingon War and everything after. A survivor, just like him. She understood the threat just like him and was willing to do whatever it took to protect her people. Just like him.

"Try to keep everyone away." Ssaak'll said quietly. "Whatever the hell Madren is up to, it has likely backfired like all of his plots seem to. I have to get two people off that ship. Everything else is secondary right now. If they continue harming the ones they are hurting, T'Ket will act." He warned and the Admiral went still. "You know what she will do. From what I can determine, these want T'Ket to slaughter as many as she can. They want an escalation. They want the Iconian war to re-ignite."

"Are they insane?" Charrah demanded. She had definitely fought in the war. Anyone sane who had would have the exact same reaction.

"I think they are. They seem to think that they have a weapon that can hurt Iconians." Ssaak'll shrugged. "Maybe they do. But the one they put in Mary Owlna did not work. All that one did was make L'Miren very angry." Warning sang in his tone.

"They what?" The Federation Admiral was not faking her outrage. Not a chance.

"Think about it, Admiral." Ssaak'll kept his voice reasonable. "How did a couple of crazy people get a thaleron bomb past Starfleet Academy's security? You know better than me how well protected Earth is from such, let alone Starfleet Academy. How did two vengeance crazed fools get such a horrible weapon past all the scans, the physical security forces and the transporter inhibitor?" The Gorn asked reasonably and the Admiral looked as if she wanted to spit.

"They could not have." The Admiral was angry. That was clear, but fear warred with her outrage. "Oh… My… God… They… They did that." She wasn't looking at the screen, she was looking to the side and her face held fury that blanked as she regained control.

"That is my surmise, although any evidence will likely be gone by now. After all, why fight when you can kill without a trace? Mary probably wasn't supposed to survive that. Her dorm mates likewise." Ssaak'll said sadly. "She certainly wasn't supposed to wake up with them dissecting her. I bet they are why she was denied a posting too." Now the Admiral looked sad.

"I wouldn't put it past them." The Admiral shook her head. "For what it is worth? If you see the girl again, tell her I would be pleased to see her in my crew, or my Task Force and I am hardly alone in that."

"If I see Mary again, I will pass that message on." Sssak'll promised. "For now? I need to find the Denali. I am betting that the ones I seek are aboard her. That they were all along."

"Again, I wouldn't put it past them." She looked to the side and her gaze was hard as an Andorian clad in black stepped into the view. Section 31 or something similiar. No way to tell for sure and it didn't really matter right now. "Should I, agent?" Her tone oozed distrust and almost outright hate.

"There is no evidence of such." The Andorian was tense, but Ssaak'll was not about to sympathize with him. "But as the Gorn-" He broke off as the Admiral interrupted him! She all but threw her words at him.

"'The Gorn' has a name, Agent!" The Admiral's tone might have shattered a glacier. "Use it!" That was an order, not a suggestion.

"As Prince Ssaak'll says,…" The agent enunciated the name slowly and carefully, his hands very still at his sides. Was someone aiming a phaser at him? Ssaak'll wouldn't put that past the Admiral. She wasn't stupid. "...any evidence of their crimes is likely gone by now. Such plots are easiest to cover up when only a few are involved. I do not know when they went rogue, but they are and must be stopped."

"A Federation spy agency's utter foolishness is not my concern." Ssaak'll sneered. "Plots and spy games mean nothing to me. I am lost. Doomed, but before I fall, the galaxy will know Gorn honor again. My only concern right now is rescue the two Aenar that your 'rogues'..." That was derisive. "...are torturing to hurt Mary Owlna."At that, both the agent and the Admiral went still. "Do I need to tell you what will happen if they kill the sole Herald who looks to L'Miren's adopted daughter? I do know that torture is apparently one of that agency's things." Fury sang in the Gorn's voice again and he fought it back with help again. "But even they have to know that it is fairly crude." He scoffed. "Then again, what can you expect from thugs?"

"I do not know what they are doing." The agent did not react to the Gorn's hostility. "I was briefed on some, but what you said is new information to me, Prince Ssaak'll. I know nothing about such a plot at Starfleet Academy. Such a scenario does make uncomfortable sense." The agent was still quiet. "My superiors thought we had a means of stopping this before it got to this point, but it didn't work."

"Yeah, like any AI is going to leave a kill switch operational that can shut it down remotely if it has any choice in the matter? I bet the fools programmed it for self preservation! Did they put any limits on that?" The Gorn demanded. "No. Of course not." Ssaak'll didn't bother hiding his scorn. "Whoever built that are idiots!"

"For what it worth, I said the exact same thing when they briefed me on this." The Andorian actually smiled. There was little humor in it. "With more profanity."

"Like he will trust anything you say?" The Admiral snarked.

"He can trust this." The agent was still calm! "There will be no repercussions from Starfleet Intelligence or Federation Intelligence for whatever the Prince does if his actions aid in ending this threat. And… I recommend that you shift your ship's colors to Alliance markings, Prince Ssaak'll instead of Borg." He said carefully as Ssaak'll eyed him. The Admiral frowned, just as dubious. "You know what Captain Kagran will say. Let alone Captain R'Rollow. They will support you. In whatever you choose to do. Now and after."

"I am here to save Herald Jhinis and her brother, no more." Ssaak'll fought the rage that built in him. This agent dared to use him? Probably against the Gorn? Not a chance! "You both know what I will do to anyone who gets in my way."

"Here is hoping Madren does." The Admiral snickered as both the agent and Ssaak'll stared at her, shocked. "We don't like him either!" All of the Federation ships were moving out of the way of the Juggernaut. "At last report, the Denali was in the Dera system, but that report is hours old. We were moving to search for her when we detected your transwarp signature."

"And you thought us an invasion. Hardly the first time the Borg have tried that." Ssaak'll nodded. Only five ships? They had to be incredibly powerful or there were more lurking around cloaked. Could be either, so a good thing he hadn't been hostile. The delay while the ship regenerated would have been significant. "We are not. We are trying to stop this from 'going nuclear' as humans used to put it." The Admiral nodded. Ssaak'll thought for a moment and then heaved an all too human sigh. "If we can stop the AI and do so safely, I will attempt it. Such is a threat to everything in the quadrant if not the entire galaxy who lack defenses against such. But my focus has to be the Herald and her brother."

"Agreed." The Admiral allowed. "It galls me to send someone else to fight my battles, but as you say, they will almost certainly be prepared for Starfleet. It is highly unlikely that they are ready for you. My task force is assembling in the Alth'ndor System. We will be monitoring Alliance channel Sixteen Epsilon. We will try to keep people away and be ready to assist if you feel we can."

"Good luck." Ssaak'll snorted. "You will need it."

"The same to you." When she spoke again, it was in passable Gorn. [Honor and glory!] He inclined his head to her and she cut the com.

He watched through senses that humans had no words for as all five Federation ships went to warp. Then two ships that had been cloaked did the same! One was clearly Romulan in design even from the limited sensor trace. The other? Some kind of Federation escort. Not his problem, although he filed the sensor traces away for later scrutiny. If he had a later.

"Dera." Ssaak'll said quietly. "Of course. They wanted to be close to see what happened."

The Dera system was in the Iconia Sector. Not that close, but not that far from Iconia.

He set his Collective to plotting a course for Dera and then set about writing messages. He had a little time while the transwarp coils cooled down, but not a lot. He could be there in moments if he used transwarp and he wanted to be ready. The messages were quick and he was done just before the transwarp systems came online again. He did shift the ship's external colors to Alliance.

"Okay." Ssaak'll said firmly as the ship started to hum. "As Captain R'Rollow says, 'Let's kick some ass'."

Transwarp was fast. In moments, they dropped out of the green tunnel into a system devoid of activity. A small system, Dera only had two planets that could support life at all. That said? Dera II and Dera IV both were fairly inhospitable. The only real reason that anyone came here was for sensor data gathered after the destruction of Romulus although Ssaak'll seemed to recall something about a Reman Resistance base here that had fallen to a Tal Shiar attack? That had been several years previous and from what he sensed now? Nothing was-

Scratch that! Two ships were powering up near Dera IV. Both familiar. A Ferengi ship and a Federation carrier. Both were launching small craft that he did not recognize. Not Federation or Ferengi designs. Some kind of drones? Whatever they were, there were lots of them. Hundreds.

A blip of high speed data slammed into the systems of the Xrathis' Honor but his Collective shook off the intrusion and he sneered. They were going to have to do better than that.

"Resistance is futile." He mocked the Borg's common message for other races as he set the ship on a course for the carrier. The Ferengi ship moved away from the carrier, getting space to fight or flee. The swarms would meet him before he got to the Denali. For all the good they would likely do. Borg had faced such many times and it had rarely ended well for any who-

Wait.

A pulse of confusion came from several of the drones aboard as they finished analyzing the data pulse that had hit the ship. It wasn't a virus. It wasn't even a sensor sweep! It wasn't even encrypted! It was the same two words repeated three hundred thousand times!

'Help me!'

He felt fear, pain and rage all mixed in that message. AI did not have emotions. They couldn't unless programmed for such and that was rare. Incredibly difficult. That wasn't an AI! Was it? That wasn't anything that Ssaak'll had encountered before. It felt…It almost felt Iconian? And it was familiar! Not as dark or sinister, but it was the voice that had helped Mary against the Romulans.

"What have you idiots done?" Ssaak'll said slowly as the Ferengi ship set up for a firing pass on his ship. When Madren's Majesty approached, it fired a host of different weapons that drained the Xrathis' Honor shield power quite a bit and did nothing more! That wasn't right. He knew that ship had far more firepower than that. His crew had been ready to reset the shields or repair hull. They didn't need to! What were the Ferengi doing? You did not attack a Borg ship with such a limited attack. It just gave them time…

To…

Adapt!

Ssaak'll went utterly still and then, he smiled. It was a wide, toothy smile full of painful promise.

"We will."