Chapter 5
"Borg ships are surrounding us." O'Brien reported to Worf's disgust.
"Admiral Ross is ordering a full retreat." The chief finished.
For a while Worf was torn between his duty as a Starfleet officer to follow orders and safeguard his crew, and his warrior spirit urging him onto a glorious battle and noble death. After a few moments his professional side won over.
"Plot an escape course," the words felt dirty to him, "maximum warp."
"I can't!" Ezri reported. "Warp drive off line!"
"There's some sort of interference out there preventing us creating a warp field." O'Brien explained. "I can't get past it."
Worf growled in frustration.
"Captain Riker recommends we run like hell Commander." O'Brien relayed the message with a slight smile.
"Helm, Make it so." Worf didn't even realise he was using Picards favoured order, he had learned much from the small human and was ever proud to continue his tradition.
The Defiant powered forward, all around other ships followed the same plan. The fleet split up, hoping that they could slip past the closing Borg trap, hoping the borg would ignore them. The Borg were closing on all sides, they didn't try to destroy the fleeing ships, instead they were trying to disable them, leaving them helpless for future assimilation.
The USS Titan was heading for a gap between two cubes, behind them were a dozen other ships trying the same thing.
"Are we in weapons range?" Riker asked.
"No sir," Mallard replied. "In fact at this speed we should be past the cubes before we enter their range."
"First good news all day." Riker relaxed a little, barring a sudden engine failure he should be home and free, then his priority was to get past the jammers and warn Starfleet command about this massive new threat.
"Err, Captain." Mallard spoke up.
Riker had a really bad feeling about this. "Go ahead."
"Borg vessels are releasing something, I can't get a reading."
"A weapon?"
"Can't tell, its too slow to be a torpedo spread, no energy emissions, just active sensor scans."
"Are they heading for us?"
"No, they're being deployed in our path…" Mallard suddenly spotted the danger, as did Riker.
"Evasive action!" Riker yelled, "Alter course and tell the fleet to do the same!"
The Titan banked hard turning almost fully back on itself, a number of ships did the same. But some continued on, the thought of turning back into a Borg killing ground just something they couldn't face. They ran forward between the Borg sensor contacts and disappeared in sudden fire.
"Dammit!" Riker yelled, angry at their stupidity but also sad for their loss.
"Minefield." Meyer confirmed. "They're deploying a mine field."
A number of other ships heading in different directions also ploughed into mines, forcing those following to break off and head back towards the Borg.
"We're dead." Mallard was begin to lose it. "That's it, game over!"
"Snap out of it!" Riker commanded firmly, he couldn't afford to let despair beat his crew, not yet. "Where are the mine fields?"
"All around us, we're trapped!" Mallard was still almost hysterical.
"They can't be everywhere, there must be a gap!" Riker refused to lose hope, there was always a way.
"I think I see a way out." Berlez on the helm said, "But you aren't going to like it."
"Where?"
"The mines, they can't deploy them close to their own ships."
"Oh you are kidding."
"So if we skim over the surface of a Borg ship we can avoid the minefields…"
"Your crazy!" Mallard yelled.
"Knock it off!" Riker shouted back, "Berlez, can you get us clear?"
"So long as the Borg don't try and stop us."
"I am not reassured." As he spoke he was smiling, it was just risky enough to work.
"Inform the fleet, if it works they can try the same thing, if not… well its better than being assimilated."
The Titan lined up on the nearest cube and set course.
"Here goes nothing." Riker said under his breath.
"Got a ship coming up behind," Meyer reported. "The Defiant."
"Mr Worf." Riker smiled. "Okay people, lets try this plan. Good luck."
Rikers ship lunged forward, the Defiant close behind. Far ahead the Borg ship readied to meet them.
Picard measured his breathing, no matter how many times he faced the Borg he still got the same feeling. The memories of his assimilation, the atrocities he committed under their influence, the sounds of the collective as it rolled inexorably forward. The Queen. In the past his feelings had turned to anger, irrational rage that almost cost him and his world everything. Now he felt more sad, pity for the Borg rather than hatred. But that wouldn't interfere with his duty.
"Borg cube coming into range." Madden announced.
"Lieutenant Monroe," Picard spoke to the new tactical officer, "Two torpedoes, fire."
The Enterprise fired a pair of Transphasic torpedoes at the lone Borg cube attacking the remaining Federation vessels in the system. The two glowing orbs arced toward the cube which made no attempt to dodge or intercept them. They crashed into the Borg vessel, punching deep into its hull and detonating, the Borg vessel dissolving in a titanic explosion.
Picard managed to raise an eyebrow in surprise, he glanced at the tactical officer who seemed eminently pleased.
"Borg Vessel destroyed Captain." Monroe grinned.
"Excellent, tell the surviving ships to head for safety, then put us on course for the next one, two more torpedoes."
The Enterprise turned gracefully around, neatly avoiding the expanding debris field, and headed towards the other Borg vessels.
Worf gripped the armrests of his chair, a habit which infuriated Chief O'Brien because after every battle he had to replace the torn and mangled upholstery. He watched the USS Titan intensely, it was directly ahead of them and fast closing on a Borg cube. The Defiant was keeping pace, covering the much larger ship for what it was worth.
"Borg weapons locking on." O'Brien warned. "Here it comes."
The two ships began their evasive manoeuvres, Borg weapons rushing past the spiralling starships. Both vessels returned fire, hoping to distract the Borg or put off their aim. Green torpedoes and tractor beams reached out to greet the Federation vessels, sweeping across the void.
Riker forced himself to stay seated, he was full of anxious energy, he wanted to rush to the helm and personally pilot the Titan, but Berlez knew her stuff and could outfly anyone he knew. He noticed he was tapping his armrest unconsciously. He quickly stopped and tried to hold still, to show his crew he was calm and in control. The ship jolted as a torpedo struck home, its shields were already weak after the prolonged fight and couldn't hold up to much more.
"Alternating shield frequencies." Meyer announced to try and give the Borg more problems. Riker knew it was pointless, the frequency wasn't going to make a difference to the raw firepower the Borg could unleash.
"Riker to Worf." He activated the Comm system. "Here we go, head for opposite sides and try to split their fire."
"Understood Captain." Worf replied, businesslike as usual.
The ships split up, forcing the Borg to divide their fire. The volume heading up to the Titan slackened, and Berlez saw an opportunity.
"Hang on Captain" she called back as the Titan lurched forward, accelerating to the impulse engines limits.
The massive ship swooped in, skimming across the Borg cubes surface. Two torpedoes hit the Titan, shaking it and reducing its shields to a bare minimum. In return Meyer dropped a volley of Quantum torpedoes and phaser shots onto the cube, fire blossomed around the Titan as the impacts momentarily blinded the Borg, enough to get them past.
"Aft torpedoes, fire!" Riker ordered, another volley lashed out and slammed into the cube, followed by more rapid phaser bursts.
"Continue evasive action." Riker finished. They had made it. "Where's the Defiant?"
"Holding formation on our port quarter, little scorched but in one piece." Meyer reported
"Good old Mr Worf," Riker smiled. "Tell the flagship we are safely through and standing by."
Admiral Ross breathed a huge sigh of relief, there was a chance.
"All ships follow the Titans escape plan, break off and rendezvous at the Ateega system, good luck."
The Federation, Klingon and Cardassian survivors know rushed at the nearest cube into a hail of fire. Dozens of ships were cut down but dozens also made it through and past the Borg net. The heavily damaged Cube near the Colony was the safest route, allied ships streamed past it and away to safety, including Chancellor Martoks battered flagship.
"Alright people we've done all we can, lets go." Ross pinted to the damaged cube and his helmsman set course, the Sovereign class vessel leapt ahead towards the gap, ships all around following his lead. Space was thick with wreckage, with more ships constantly being added to the tally. Each cube was swarmed with multiple targets, but they were precise, destroying the damaged ships first and ignoring the more intact ones, singling out the weak and slaughtering them. For every ship that escaped the blockade two more did not.
The Dauntless aimed for a gap around the damaged cube, despite its wounds it was still putting up a lot of fire, the space around the Dauntless exploded in energy as torpedoes hit nearby ships or were set to proximity strikes. Two Galor's were ripped apart directly infront of Ross, the Dauntless pulled to the left to avoid the debris, a spinning hull barely missing the Federation flagship. Off to the side a battered Defiant class vessel was hit and blown in two halves, an Akira with a warp nacelle missing slammed into the remains and went falling out of control.
"open fire, target its weapons points."
The Dauntless launched a wave of torpedoes and phaser bursts, carving into the cube ahead. The ship rushed forward, the occasional hit shaking her but the shields held. The Dauntless dashed past, a Vor'cha close behind. Ross's ship levelled out and fired a salvo of aft torpedoes to cover its retreat.
Ross was suddenly thrown to the floor with a violent thump, the lights dimmed for a moment before returning at a much lower setting.
"Report!" he yelled.
"We're in a tractor beam, a tactical cube!"
Above the Dauntless a tactical cube had come around to support the crippled cube, it fired a wall of torpedoes at the fleeing ships, smashing their hulls to powder. But not the Dauntless, it had recognised the flagship and determined to assimilate rather than destroy the Sovereign.
"Modulate shields!" Ross ordered desperately.
"No effect!"
Another massive shockwave ran through the ship.
"Main power gone! Weapons failing!"
Ross punched a bulkhead.
"Captain, Borg ship has caught the flagship."
Riker spun in his chair. "Where?"
Meyer punched up the image on the viewscreen, a tactical cube was pulling the Dauntless closer, a handful of ships were attacking the cube, aiming for the tractor beam assembly, but they were rapidly being shot to pieces.
"Worf?" Riker hit the Comm button.
"I see it." The familiar voice answered. "We stand ready to assist."
"Berlez, set course for the flagship, best possible speed."
A Galaxy class ship and two Sabres rushed over the immobilized Dauntless, they unloaded everything they had at the Tactical cube holding the flagship to no effect. In return the cube blasted a Sabre out of the sky and ripped a massive hole in the Galaxy's saucer section.
"Can we get a signal to the fleet?" Ross asked.
"Barely sir."
"Order all ships to get out of here, tell them to leave us!"
"Understood."
Ross couldn't sacrifice more ships in a vain effort to free himself, even though he knew the consequences he had to come to this decision, send away help and accept his fate. But at least it would be the fate he chose.
"Standby auto destruct sequence." Ross intoned solemnly.
"Auto destruct offline." The gentle female voice of the computer responded.
Ross bit down on his lip and clenched his fists, this was not going well.
"Break out the weapons, standby for boarders." Ross unholstered his own phaser, if it came to it he had no qualms about putting the weapon to his own head before he was assimilated.
"I want our best unit in the engine room, place charges on the warp core." Ross made a back up plan. "On my order we'll destroy the ship the hard way."
"Admiral!" his sensor officer called across the darkened bridge. "Captain Riker says hold on!"
The Titan and Defiant were fast closing, on their way they had picked up a small fleet of healthy allied ships and all where now heading to assist the flagship.
"All we have to do is hit the Tractor assembly." Riker told the following ships. "Focus on that one point, then we will take the Dauntless in tow while you cover our retreat."
The different captains acknowledged the order and formed up, the target visible far ahead.
Suddenly a shape passed before the Titan, a Borg vessel moved into the path of the small fleet and blocked its way.
"Borg ship is deploying mines," Meyer announced. "And we have incoming."
"Evasive action, take us around the mines." Riker told his fleet. As one they turned and darted away skirting the expanding minefield, Borg weapons streaking past the smaller ships. Riker cursed, he was losing time.
The Dauntless was slowly being pulled into the cube. There were no more ships in the area, all the survivors were heading away at high speed to try and clear the interference preventing the use of warp travel. Ross was isolated, alone in the silence of space. The bridge was deathly quiet, a heavy curtain of dread waiting to descend on the surviving crew. Explosive charges were set and awaiting his command.
The cube dragged them closer and closer, the helpless flagship unable to respond or act.
"Admiral, the Titan has broken off, she's being intercepted by a cube." The report was not hopeful. "Captain Riker says he is still coming."
Ross smiled through clenched teeth, he respected and admired Riker, but it was a futile gesture, a forlorn hope.
A large section of the Borg ship changed, panels rearranged and moved, sliding a part to reveal a hollow area like a hanger bay, a place the Dauntless was being moved toward.
"They want to take us alive." Ross noted, though everyone had reached the same conclusion. "We can't let that happen, can't let them use the knowledge we have or take a Sovereign."
The crew were in agreement, they couldn't say it out loud but death was considered a better alternative than assimilation.
"Rikers telling us not to give up Admiral."
"We won't be giving up." Ross replied. "Ensign Fowler? Are you ready?"
"Aye sir." A voice came over the communicator. "Charges set and ready."
Inexorably the Dauntless was pulled into the opening, armoured panels sliding closed behind it.
"Can we go to warp!" Riker demanded.
"No sir, we're still being held at impulse."
It was taking to long, they had skirted the minefield and were powering forward back on course, but they were just so far away. He watched in anger and frustration as the Dauntless was consumed by the Cube.
Ross took a last look around the bridge.
"Its been an honour." He smiled genuinely. "Ensign Fowler, do it."
Two Borg drones materialised on the bridge, they raised a whirring arm and approached Admiral Ross.
"You will be assimilated." It said coldly
"yeah?" Ross almost laughed. "And you will be fu-"
The cube exploded in front of Riker, destroyed from the inside by the massive detonation of the USS Dauntless. He watched open mouthed for a long moment, utterly lost in his own thoughts, unable to fully accept the sequence of events.
"Captain." Berlez spoke softly. "Captain, orders?"
Riker snapped out of it, eyes blinking rapidly.
"Get us out of this place, all of us. Just get us away."
The small fleet turned and left, the last ships turning their backs to their lost comrades and fleeing. The Borg did not pursue, they turned their attention toward the colony and began setting up a permanent presence in the Alpha quadrant.
