Chapter 2: The Battle of Starbase 234
Dearest Bart,
I haven't done this in way to long but with the federation facing its greatest
challenge I thought it was time I said some things. I love you Bart, I know
I've made it difficult for you these last few years but I do love you. I always
have from the moment I first met you all those years ago on Starbase 92.
I know that I have pushed you, maybe I pushed you to far, know that it is
only because I love you and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I
was afraid I was losing you Bart, and I could never have lived with myself for
losing you without trying, I hope you can understand that. I'm about to go in
to a battle I fear we cannot win. The Tolkien has been assigned to protect
Starbase 234 from the Borg at all cost, a tactical cube is on its way here and
I do not have much longer.
So what do you say if the two of us make it out of this mess alive shall we give
it another try? And if not, well my live has had meaning just for knowing you Bart,
I love you and wish you all the best
Lovingly yours,
Antony
USS J.R.R. Tolkien
Starbase 234
Stardate: 58104.8
Commander Anthony mark was sitting in the center seat of the Tolkien, awaiting the return of her captain, who was in a last minute tactical briefing with Admiral Paris on Starbase 234. He had just finished composing a letter to his former longtime partner Bart Faulwel, he hoped that Bart could forgive him for typing it out rather than writing it by hand, he just didn't have the time to do it properly.
Now Anthony was going over ship's readiness reports to see if anything could be done to improve their chances, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire crew was performing at peek proficiency. Engineering had managed to boost the warp core to produce power to well over 130% of rated maximum. Tactical had used that power to boost the weapons, and shields another 50%. Sickbay had reported battle ready thirty minutes ahead of schedule and damage control teams where standing by, if today was to be their last day it was not because of lack of trying.
As a Steamrunner class starship the Tolkien was formidable in battle, being part of the same design family as the defiant class they were actually build with the Borg in mind, and it was not like the Starbase didn't possess any weaponry of its own. However very few ships had faced the Borg and survived, the Borg invasion had already cost the federation many ships and bases. Some managed to fight of the Borg, if at heavy costs many requiring the ultimate sacrifice, however many more ships had failed.
.
So too in this case, the cube heading towards Starbase 234 had already been faced in battle, having destroyed the colony of Creta IV and the three starships tasked with the defense of the colony. Anthony just hoped that the cube was already significantly damaged by this engagement and that they could use that to their advantage.
Anthony was disturbed from his reports by the turbolift doors opening behind him, and ensign Parsons at ops quite literally shouting "Captain on the bridge." Captain Shor walked in, Anthony quickly vacated his seat to take the one on the left of the captain. He handed Shor the pad with the readiness reports, adding simply.
"The ship is ready sir." The Andorian captain nodded curtly before taking his seat, and whispered
"Did you manage to send your letter to Bart?"
"yes sir, managed to send it just before the ordered radio silence" Anthony replied feeling slightly awkward at the personal question, then again Shor wasn't the typical by the book captain and it was on his advice that he had send the letter in the first place.
"Good, good" the captain continued out loud.
"Well then let's do this, Parsons give me ship wide audio I want to address the crew"
"Yes sir, the ship hears you captain" came the quick reply from OPS.
"Crew of the J.R.R. Tolkien, this is the captain, I need not tell you the gravity of the situation, you all know what is going on all over the federation. The Borg are coming and they seem to be intent on destroying our way of life. We will not let this happen, the day may come when the federation will crumble to dust and will be no more than a memory I promise you it will not be today. As long as we have a ship to fight with we shall not let them pass, we are Starfleet we are the federation and we have faced many threats in the past and have survived, we shall do so once more, red alert all crew to battle stations, that's all."
"Nice speech" Anthony said leaning in towards the captain, "I think it's just what they needed"
"Indeed, to bad it's all lies, but if I can give them some hope I will even if it's a false one" Shor whispered. "I just hope that our deaths shall not be in vein"
"It will sir, it will I'm sure of it, even if it's just to show those Borg that we will never stop resisting however futile they might think it to be. "Anthony responded, then out loud he called
"ETA for Borg contact?"
"Our best estimate says fifteen minutes" ensign Parson replied.
"Ship status report?" asked Captain Shor.
"All decks reported at battle stations, shields up and at optimum capacity, weapons are powered and standing by" Lieutenant V'lars responded calmly.
"Good," the captain replied. "Now comes the hardest part, the waiting."
Fifteen minutes later a massive Borg tactical cube dropped out of transwarp at the edge of the system. It was scarred with pits and crevices running throughout its outer hull, one of its massive armour plates being completely missing. Clear signs from the battle at Creta IV, even as badly damaged as it was it was still fully functional and a formidable opponent for any Starfleet task force let alone just three ships and a starbase. The damage was already starting to regenerate, and the ship would be back to fully operational in a few hours, if it wasn't stopped before then.
The cube wasted no time and headed into the system towards the starbase the moment it dropped out of transwarp seeming not to even notice the three Starships there waiting for it. It didn't even broadcast the Borg's standard message. This cube was on a mission, not to assimilate but to destroy the starbase and everyone with it. It had no will of its own the only thing spurring it on was the constant voice of the collective and the only objective right now was the destruction of the federation.
The bridge on the Tolkien was quiet, everything that should be said had been said and now as the captain had said there was only the wait. Until the call came from OPS right on schedule
"Borg cube has entered the system, ETA to starbase three minutes"
"On screen" responded Anthony.
Parson quickly complied showing the cube to the entire bridge crew.
"It seems Creta IV didn't fall without a fight, look at all that damage" Shor said studying the image intently.
"I need to see more, full analysis"
"I've already initiated a full scan" answered the ever proactive and logical V'lars. "Results should come in shortly."
"Well done lieutenant, keep me appraised, Shor to Opaka and Forrest, fall in to defensive formation alpha four and await further orders.
"Tactical assessment is ready captain, the cube has received significant damage during its earlier engagement, shields are at approximately 74.01 percent of optimal, and armour plating has been penetrated and in places completely removed. Most of the damage is centralised on what is the rear flank of the cube to our current perspective and they seem to be trying to protect that flank. My advice would be to focus our fire there whenever possible."
"Thank you V'lars, concise as always" the captain answered with a slight chuckle.
"The cube will enter weapon range of the Starbase in approximately 40 seconds" came a call from OPS.
"Shor to the fleet, this is it. Engage the cube formation Delta three, keep moving and focus on the aft flank it's vulnerable, and keep moving to avoid being hit"
The three Starships sped of away from the starbase in a close triangle formation, moving as if they were one ship. Closing the distance between them and the cube in mere seconds. They swooped around the cube starting strafing runs covering the rear flank. Their amber coloured phaser beams and bolts just seemed to glance over the cube's shields without doing much damage. The bright blue flares of the quantum torpedoes didn't seem to fare much better.
Then the behemoth weaponry of the Starbase came in to play, massive lances of amber energy shooting out at the cube, coupled with a rain of torpedoes and phaser cannon fire. Unfortunately the cube was protecting its vulnerable side from the starbase and the massive weaponry barely seemed to slow the cube down.
That was when the cube opened fire, focusing its attention all but completely on the starbase, ignoring the Starships as a charging elephant would ignore flies. A rain of green energy bolts and torpedoes launching from all its weapon ports, hitting the Starbase shields which flared up bright blue and seemed to buckle under the strain.
"Damn the cube is ignoring us, we need to distract it from the starbase, or it won't last long," Shor said "Forrest get between the cube and the starbase, give it something else to shoot at. But for Uzaveh's sake try not to get in the Starbase's firing solution, and keep moving."
"Understood Tolkien"
The Akira class ship swooped out of the formation, heading straight for the starbase to join its side, firing phasers as it went.
"V'lars, cube status" ordered Anthony.
"Front shield facing is at 89.31 percent and falling slowly, aft quarters at 56.46% and dropping, some of our torpedoes are starting to make an impact soon the hull but it is still minimal."
"Damn keep up the pressure we need to get those shields down, how's the starbase doing?"
"Starbase shields are at 25% and dropping, she can't take much more of this commander" responded Parson.
"Attack pattern omega V, full torpedo and cannon spread, give it all we have" ordered Shor. "We need to get its attention the starbase needs time to recover its shields."
Tolkien and Opaka swept around for another run, every weapon port firing a massive spread of energy and torpedo's towards the cubes weakened flank. The damage to the cube itself was minimum, however it did get the cubes attention. Green tractor beams flashed on snatching both vessels stopping them in their tracks. The ships energy started to drain away and the ships were started to be torn apart by the strain.
"The Borg have trapped us in a tractor beam captain."
"You think so V'lars," Shor responded sarcastically. "What makes you think that, see if you can break us free."
"I will attempt to do so"
"We could try to send a Nadion stream through the tractor beam, it might fry the emitters"
"Good idea Anthony, you heard the commander make it so Parsons."
"Working on it" Parsons responded. "Captain, I'm working on it but the Opaka she, well….
"Dear Uzaveh no, put her on screen" ordered Shor.
The Defiant class Starship appeared on screen, trapped in a tractor beam just like they were, it was trying it's best to escape but it was to no avail. The ship was starting to break up and already some of the hull plating had been torn off by the strain. As the Tolkien's bridge crew looked on they saw the ship falling apart, first they lost a nacelle, and then their deflector. Until all there was left where pieces flying in space.
For an instance Anthony dared to hope that those sections might survive with some crewmen in them. However then the uncontrolled matter anti matter reaction of the warp core took hold. A white flash washed out the view screen and by the time the filters managed to compensate the Opaka was gone, leaving nothing but a cloud of debris.
"Viewer ahead," Shor ordered being the first to recover. "Where's my Nadion stream?"
"Almost their captain…" responded ensign Parsons who had managed to keep focused on her work.
"Right their, ready and awaiting your order."
"What are you waiting for, make it so"
Tolkien's deflector glowed bright blue and send a blue pulse that travelled straight up the tractor beam towards the deflector. Blue electrical energy, sparked around the emitter frying it completely, and the tractor beam flashed out of existence. The Tolkien sped away to get out of harm's way and just when they thought they were save, the cube fired a torpedo that found his mark. The ship looked like it was hit by a sledgehammer, flying away in an uncontrolled spin leaking bright blue warp plasma like a sieve.
When Anthony regained consciousness he found himself lying crumpled up below the malfunctioning view screen.
"Seatbelts, when will they give us some damn seatbelts," he thought out loud. Looking around the bridge trying to see through the smoke he saw the con officer slumped over his console, it looked like he had smashed his head on it leaving a crack in the panel, and probably his skull as well. Further ahead where Parsons and V'lars who seemed to be in a similar state to himself slowly standing up and looking around. Anthony continued searching for the one person he wanted to see more than anyone, and then he found him. Flung towards the door to his ready room was captain Shor, his head covered in blue blood and not yet conscious. Realising that at the moment he was the captain he tugged his uniform straight and called out.
"V'lars report! Parsons check on the captain"
"Yes sir," they responded in almost perfect unison, V'lars immediately started trying to coax some information out of his console, and Parsons headed towards the captain. Anthony moved towards the conn officer, whose name he was ashamed to admit, escaped him at the moment. He was new addition to the ship straight from the academy. He felt his neck for a pulse.
"Damn" it was as he feared, the kid was dead. No time for proper honours he pushed the con officer of his seat, taking it for himself and running a diagnostic. The helm was sluggish but responding. That's when V'lars reported in.
"Commander I'm ready to deliver my report"
"Than what are you waiting for, come out with it man"
"My apologies sir, we've been flung away from the main battle zone, the ship itself has sustained heavy damage, engineering has been forced to eject the warp core to prevent a breach, we are running on axillary power.. Aft weapons are of line and front are functioning at 75.56%. Casualty reports are coming in throughout the ship, early estimates are that 46% of the crew are walking wounded. Fatalities are too early to say, however it's significant.
"What about the battle?"
"The starbase and the cube are not reading on sensors, this might be because they're too far away for our damaged sensors or…"
"Yeah, I get it see if you can get some replacement bridge crew up here, I'm plotting a course back we have a duty to defend the base"
"Yes sir, I've also been attempting to repair the view screen, this should do it. The view screen popped on, still very grainy but at least usable.
"Good job, Parsons how's the captain?" Anthony said looking towards Parsons, then he saw her she looked frozen, face ashen almost in shock.
"Parsons he called out snap out of it, we need you now" This seemed to shake her out of it,
"He's dead commander he just died within my arms I, I guess that means you're captain now."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, get back to your station ensign we need you."
"Aye sir." She responded walking back to her station at OPS. The replacement crew started arriving but there was no CONN officer so Anthony decided to stay where he was, he didn't quite feel like taking Shor's seat anyway.
"Plotting a course back to the Starbase, we are not done yet."
Anthony flew straight back to the battle zone, eyes fixed to the viewer trying to discern the situation trough the grainy haze. Slowly the picture became clear the starbase was starting to succumb to the strain, great portions of it had already disappeared and it was no longer returning fire. The Forrest was still intact though it was giving its best but the cube still paid her little attention. Energy beams lanced out from the cube literally carving up the starbase, it was a lost cause but they were tasked with defending it and there were still the people on the planet below to worry about.
Anthony send out a hail "Tolkien to Forrest, please come in"
"Forrest here Tolkien, thank god we were afraid we lost you there Tolkien, where's captain Shor?"
"The captain is no longer with us, this is Commander Anthony Mark I've taken over command"
"Understood commander, fall in formation with The Forrest, if you can we still have a cube to deal with."
"Understood Forrest"
The two ships closed together and resumed their strafing runs, continuously firing on the Borg's damaged portions. Every run just seemed glance over the cube with little to no damage, and the starbase could no longer take the strain it was starting to fall apart. The Forrest and Tolkien swooped by it for another charge, and the cube for a second concentrated its fire on the Forrest, hitting it straight in the saucer sending it cartwheeling towards the starbase. It rammed the starbase straight on right in the lower sections, where Mark knew the power core to be. For a second it seemed that that would be it, but then a bright flash washed out everything in the area and when the view screen's filters managed to compensate starbase, and the Forrest were gone.
The Tolkien was now out all on its own, leaving it without anything to defend or any back up. He wondered if he couldn't just try and escape, there seemed so little they could do, but with the without a warp core where could they go? Then he remembered that this cube had already taken out a colony world and now a starbase, with the Borg's incredible regenerative abilities there was no knowing what else the cube could do before it was stopped, all of this led to his decision.
He hit the com channel on his console and addressed the entire crew. "This is Commander Mark to all hands, you have one minute to abandon ship, repeat one minute to abandon ship."
"Commander we will need at least five minutes for a full evacuation, and sickbay reports…"
"We don't have the time V'lars" Anthony interceded. "If they haven't evacuated by then the Borg will turn their attention back to us, no get yourself in to an escape pod."
"I will respectfully decline Commander" V'lars responded.
"Do you realise what I'm about to do, I'm planning to ram this ship in to the cube." Anthony responded agitatedly.
"Yes sir" V'lars responded calmly. "Illogical though it might seem I intend to stay with you."
"Have it your way, parsons get to the pod."
"I will stay too Commander" Parsons responded less calmly but no less determined. "If we fail the pods will be taken out by the Borg, I'd rather stay here to see it through"
"Al right have it your way." Anthony said, looking at the countdown on his console reaching zero. "Time's up anyway." He looked around the bridge and the few crewmen that decided to remain behind.
"It's been an honour everyone" and he executed the course he plotted, taking him straight to the most badly damaged section of the cube. The last thing that went through his mind before darkness took him was.
"I guess we won't get the chance Bart."