*****
D-Day had finally arrived. The bridge was a flurry of activity when Nyota emerged from her quarters, crisply dressed in her uniform, looking refreshed and awake in spite of a long night of fitful sleep. Her face was hard and pulled into an expression of austere authority as she tried to fight the rising tide of anxiety within her. She walked with air of unabashed command as she took a place onto the bridge.
She nodded at Kirk, even as he scowled and hesitantly nodded back. She was not bothered by his pettiness this day, instead she was concentrating on the task before her. They engaged to maximum warp, with half of Starfleet behind them.
"We are now crossing beta sector, quadrant 4 captain, engaging warp field," Sulu called out and waited for the signal. Nyota nodded to Kirk and he stepped forward.
"Proceed," Kirk responded.
A worm hole opened before them and they rushed through it, translucent blue and green light surrounding the ship as they accelerated, racing through the fold in space amid temporal distortions, energy lightning and clouds of bilious gases. They finally emerged on the other side, stars twinkling around them as they floated in the quiet of normal space once more. The cloak was activated and residual power was diverted to engineering.
Before them was the cube, its gleaming, sharp and ascetic visage disguising the dark gatherings within it.
"Magnify," said Kirk.
"Yes, Captain," an ensign replied and Nyota could see the analytical lines of metalloids and the rush of light passing between the sectors of each grid.
"The cloak is holding steady sir," the ensign assured them and Nyota nodded. Spock came to walk beside her as they made their way to the transporter room.
Team members were assembled there already, outfitted with their devices and weapons. Two ensigns aided Nyota in strapping on her devices and she placed the hypospray at her side. She spied Dimitri against the wall, his muscles straining against his crisp white uniform and his weapons dangling at his side. He nodded at her and winked surreptitiously and she allowed herself a small smile before once again plastering a cool expression upon her face.
Everyone stepped onto the transporter pad, weapons on ready, bodies tight with fear. Nyota nodded to Chekov. "Commence," she said in a strong, clear voice.
She was traveling through swirling vapor, the transporter room disappearing and the shock of steel, metal, and punctuated tubes forming before her eyes. The stealth devices were activated and a gentle flash of light preceded them as they materialized.
But something went wrong. Their devices flickered and crackled, the pressurized fields of the cube pushing them past their limits. Nyota looked about her in horror as they became visible to the horde of bio-mechanical entities working in the vicinity. Nyota stared as hundreds of pairs of cold and empty eyes turned in their direction. Shit, she thought panickedly, so much for the element of surprise.
As if on cue, the drones assembled, weapons drawn against them and Nyota gave the signal for her team to begin firing.
*******
"Get in line!!" she screamed, "GO, GO, GO!"
They ran in formation and her team struggled to secure the parameter. She watched in horror as three of the team were blasted, ugly burns appearing at their sides and chest.
"Three down!," screamed, "Engage maneuver!!"
Her team quickly divided, with the bulk staying behind, blasting as many drones as they could. The smell of burning rubber, metal and flesh assaulted Nyota's nostrils and she struggled not to gag.
Smoke began to fill the corridor and Dimitri ran beside her and her small crew of security, a holographic image swirling in tinted color in his right hand. "The queen is located in the sector below us. Make a left at the terminal."
Nyota nodded and signaled to her team to stretch out their formation as they ran. Drones rushed them, and they blasted them with phaser power. The drones at that level were unfazed by the settings and Nyota made a quick decision. "Upgrade phaser power, now, now, now!!!"
She hated seeing the humanoids turned into lumps of twisted black metal and burned flesh, but her goal was in mind and she was close, so close.
They made a left at the terminal and scaled the railing down to the lower level. A drone caught her by surprise and she was slammed backwards before springing up and grabbing her weapon.
Dimitri delivered a forceful kick to its data unit and it was momentarily stunned, it wavered and then dropped to the ground. Drones had drawn massive energy weapons, and began blasting them from behind. Dimitri dodged a blast and gave the drone one of his own, aiming for the unit at its head.
"Aim for the head!!," he yelled and Nyota shot at the nearest drone, destroying its data unit and it fell to ground, nanites rapidly decomposing it. Nyota turned away from the horrific sight, and concentrated on making a path to the next section of the grid.
She, Dimitri and her team ran full tilt across the corridor, coughing as fumes, smoke and the smell of chemicals rushed into their lungs. They dodged magnetic and sonic hits as the drones on that level began to awaken and attack. Nyota was soon joined by Spock and his team, and they all maneuvered down pipes and over twisted pieces of metal, before Dimitri led them down to the section below.
They met resistance from higher level drones, many of them protected by personal force fields that resisted their fire power. Several ensigns met their demise as they hit their targets full throttle, their phaser power bouncing of the fields and incinerating them.
"Damnit!," Nyota called out, "Reverse polarity!!!"
She reversed the polarity on her phaser, but the drones still kept coming, their steps echoing loudly in the metallic vault. She issued a few blasts and only succeeded in stunning the drone soldiers for a few seconds before they came back, weapons drawn, eyes leveled on them, expressions dull but determined.
One drone advanced, unperturbed by her hits, kicks and punches. Its deadened eyes seemed to bore into her and she struggled as it threatened to overtake her. One of her personnel pulled it off her, only to disappear as it dematerialized.
"Ensign!," she screamed.
This is a damned bloodbath! she thought. Half her team was dead or captured and she still had not made it to the queen.
*********
Nyota rushed past the second sector, her remaining team members flanking the section, trying in earnest to harness in the drones.
Her blood pumped loudly in her ears as she blasted more drones, surprised when her phaser power took them down. The drones in that area were different somehow, and susceptible to fire power. Her team took advantage of their weakness and created a clear path for her to make it to the next grid.
Her breath heavy, and her chest burning from her exertions, she pushed past a drone with kick to the head and a phaser hit to his data unit.
She continued running, noticing that the pulsing green light about the ship was getting brighter and more pronounced. The walls were now made of a clear, reflective crystal, the light of the ship magnified and reflected across its sheen. Nyota rounded a console and shot down two drones, their bodies decomposed quickly and she continued ahead. Trotting forward she looked up, and high above her, resting amidst a network of clear tubes filled with glowing fluorescent nanites, her silver metallic eyes open and unseeing, lay the queen.
*******
Nyota quickly climbed the tubes, and looking below her, blasted six more drones as they attempted to climb after her.
Her arms ached and she nearly fell, but continued ascending. The hum of the ship was louder there and Nyota could feel the vibrations running through her body. She finally reached the alcove and skimmed the railing, gasping when she nearly lost her footing.
She clutched a beam and continued moving to the side until she was in front of the queen.
She watched the queen for a moment, ready to defend herself at any sign of movement, but she was silent and still. Unhooking the hypospray, Nyota reached out to inject her. As she moved forward, the queen grabbed her arm.
Nyota struggled not to fall as her foot slipped. The queen was painfully digging into the flesh of her arm and Nyota gasped painfully. She let go of the beam and threw her full weight onto the queen's body, before reaching into her scalp and unlatching several tubes. The queen screamed and it was a scream of many voices, rolling over Nyota's ears like thunder.
The queen released her arm and Nyota's grip on the hypospray loosened as well. It dropped a few feet away and Nyota unhooked a few more tubes before dropping down to a crawl. Nyota reached for the hypospray, straining to pull it from where it had fallen. But the queen had latched an iron-like grip across Nyota's ankle and began pulling her back.
Nyota managed to slip a few fingers around the handle of the hypospray and adjusted her grip until it lay firmly in her hand. Nyota allowed herself to be pulled fully backwards and up. The queen gripped and locked both her arms and Nyota bucked her head backwards delivering a hard hit to the queen's face. She heard the queen hiss and she kicked backwards, disengaging herself but nearly falling.
She got shakily to her feet. The queen approached her once more, her silver eyes cold and reflective. The queen reached out to grab her and Nyota twisted her wrist and used her own momentum to pull her forward before placing the hypospray against her neck and injecting her.
With a burst of strength, the queen pushed Nyota over the side and she dangled in the air, one hand clutched on a railing. Her sweaty hand could not get traction and Nyota soon felt herself falling to the hard metal below.
********